Fire Emblem: Awakening—A Future Intervention
by Jedi SSJ
Summary: Morgan arrives in the past a little early—and accidentally exposes "Marth." Now the course of history will be altered by children from the future arriving before their parents have begun getting together. Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Fire Emblem: Awakening— _A Future Intervention_**

 _ **Full Summary:**_ Rather than a lost amnesiac, Morgan has arrived in the past on a mission to help her father. Unfortunately, she has arrived earlier than intended and accidentally divulged _Marth's_ little secret shortly after the failed assassination of Emmeryn. Not only that, but the other children from the future begin to show up early as well (woops, was that her fault too?). Now, how will these future children effect the course of Awakening? And how will the Shepherds react to their children from the future arriving before any of them are even in a relationship?

Because of the mechanics of Fire Emblem: Awakening, the child characters couldn't really show up until you had paired off their parents. But I always thought is would be more interesting if they showed up before their parents got together. This story is here to answer the question of how that would play out. Poor Shepherds.

 **Chapter One**

The city was beautiful. The early morning light glistened as it reflected off the white stone walls of the castle. The shadows of night had nearly vanished from the buildings, leaving only enough darkness to make the color of the tiled roofs stand out that much more in the sunlight. Smoke was already curling lazily into the air from a number of chimneys, despite the early hour. The whole town was fresh and clean and beautiful. It was almost nothing like the Ylisstol that Lucina remember from her ruined future.

Standing on a hill a few miles from the city, the blue-haired time traveler couldn't couldn't help but stop and admire the view for a few minutes. In her time the capital had been marred by constant wars with the Risen. It was a bit of a shock to see the city so clean and fresh.

The events of the previous night only served to increase the beauty of the scene before her. Thanks to Lucina's intervention the assassination of Emmeryn had been foiled and the Fire Emblem had not been stolen. Additionally, her father had made it through the ordeal without any injury—where he had suffered a lasting one in her timeline. The thought of changing her father and aunt's fates only served to highlight the warm glow of the new dawn.

Lucina had left Ylisstol castle in the wee hours of the night, getting away as soon as she was sure everyone was safe and that the Plegian assassins had been fully dealt with. Not that she'd gotten away quite as quietly as she'd intended. Chrom had caught her before she could leave the castle. And while seeing her father always made it harder for her to slip away, she had to admit that she was glad that he had spoken with her. Telling her that he trusted her and that he didn't think her talk of averting a terrible future was crazy had left her practically glowing, though she had been sure not to show it.

In all, this morning seemed the dawn of a whole new world to Lucina—one filled with long-lost hope. Certainly war loomed on the horizon for Ylisse, but with the Exalt alive and the Fire Emblem safe, the war seemed more of a formality to her. It was something her father could handle on his own as he had in her time. Now it was time for the lost princess to disappear and let history play out. She could go seek out her friends who had followed her into the past but had become separated in their trip through the Outrealm. Hopefully they had not arrived too far apart from her.

Lucina had returned to her inn room in the city after the battle last night and managed to catch a few hours of shut-eye. Though she wanted to get away from the city quickly, she wasn't foolish enough to travel at night without any sleep. As much as she wanted to spend time with her past father and mother, it was dangerous. Now that she had been unmasked, the more time she spent around Chrom, the greater the chance became of him noticing the Brand of the Exalt in her eye. Fortunately it was not easy to spot, but given enough chances he would surely notice it. Additionally there was the dull ache of longing for her family. It always intensified around the younger Chrom and it was probably better to avoid him, lest she be overcome with emotion. Fortunately, she had been able to avoid interacting much with her mother—sparing her some of the heartache that would entail.

She had left the city before the sun had even risen. Her horse had been kept at the inn's stable and she'd retrieved as soon as a stable boy was up to ready it for her. The chestnut-colored creature was no massive charger for riding into battle, but more of a pack animal for traveling long distances with. While she knew how to ride, Lucina was a bit more comfortable fighting on her own feet. Still, the horse was invaluable for moving around the land, and what few possessions the time-traveler had were easily stored away in her saddle bags. She had ridden out of the city, but chose to walk the horse for a while when the sun began to rise. It gave her the chance to enjoy the beautiful sunrise over the capital.

It was as Lucina turned away from the city view to continue her journey that she noticed something out of place. There was a dark, uneven shape one the ground that was too soft-looking to be a rock. Taking a curious step forward, the blue-haired princess realized the shape was actually a person lying on the grass. The dark colored robe on the prone figure had originally given off the appearance of a large rock, but, with the sun now firmly risen, the robe was revealed to be not just solid dark gray, but to contain a touch of blue or purple. Not a natural color for stone.

"Hello?" Lucina called out as she approached the figure. There was no response—the figure appeared to be asleep. However, sleeping in the middle of a grassy field was a ridiculous idea and Lucina immediately began to fear the worst. Had bandits left this person here after being knocked unconscious...or being slain? "Hello? Can you hear me?" she called again quickly covering the distance to the prone figure.

The person turned out to be a girl no older than Lucina herself. Maybe younger. Fortunately, she was breathing. Lucina shook her gently. "Hello? Are you all right?" she asked, but a soft moan was her only response. "Can you he-ah gods!" Lucina had touched the unconscious girl's cheek only to discover it was surprisingly hot. She quickly pulled off her glove and pressed her bare hand against the girl's forehead. She was burning up with a fever.

Glancing around, Lucina quickly realized that she was still closer to Ylisstol than to any of it's surrounding villages. Additionally, this girl needed medical treatment. Simply taking her to an inn would not be enough, and finding a staff wielder outside of the city could prove difficult, especially as she didn't know what type of curative magic the girl would need. The princess let out a soft sigh as she realized she knew of only one place where she could be sure of getting the girl adequate medical treatment and someone to look after her while she recovered (it wasn't as if Lucina carried around large amounts of gold for an extended inn stay). That was, of course, the castle she had been trying to get away from. Certainly Chrom and Emmeryn would be able to take care of this girl, but that meant going back and speaking with them again.

After a few more attempts to rouse the unconscious girl, Lucina finally gave up. She led her horse over and carefully loaded the girl on to it. The only real way to secure the girl was to sling her over the horses back right behind the saddle like a piece of luggage. Fortunately, the girl seemed to be ill rather than injured—this kind of riding would likely make injuries worse—but it was the only method Lucina had for transporting her back to the castle. After securing the girl with leather straps, the princess carefully climbed up the saddle herself. She turned the horse back towards Ylisstol castle and used her heals to prod the animal into motion. Fortunately, Lucina had chosen to buy a steed with a good. smooth ambling gait. This would allow her to reach the castle fairly quickly without bouncing her passenger too harshly.

* * *

Ylisstol castle was set back from the capital city on top of a hill. Civilians could evacuate to the castle in times of danger but the castle and city did not actually share any walls in common and one had to travel a short ways from one to reach the other. This separation meant that it was unlikely anyone in the city knew about the attack on the castle the past night. The information would eventually leak out, of course, but by then a public statement on the matter would already have been made.

More importantly, though, this meant that Lucina could travel straight to the castle, skipping the city entirely. This time, instead of seeking out the hole Chrom has once bashed in the wall, she rode up the the gate. With the sun out now sneaking in would have been much harder, and carrying an unconscious person would have made it virtually impossible. As such, she would have to try her luck at the gate. As she approached the guards signaled her to stop.

"Sorry, but the castle is closed," on of the uniformed men said. Neither guardsman made any particularly threatening gestured with their spears, but Lucina couldn't help but notice that they looked far more alert then usual. That was to be expected in the wake of an assassination attempt on their queen. "No one in or out. You'll have to come back later," the guard informed her.

"I have business with Prince Chrom," Lucina informed the guards. "If you will send a message to him I am sure he will command that I be let in."

"The prince is currently busy," the guard replied. "If you wish to leave a message we can have it delivered to him when he is free."

Lucina groaned in frustration. She had know she would likely have to rely on getting Chrom to have the guards let her in, but she hadn't expected to have trouble sending to him for his permission. "How about Princess Lissa then?" Lucina asked. "She could also authorize you to open the gate for me."

"The princess is also indisposed," the guard said flatly. "If you wish to leave a message it will reach her when she is available."

"I'm in a bit of a hurry here," Lucina said, forcefully maintaining her temper. She gestured to the unconscious girl slung over the horse behind her. "My companion needs medical aid beyond what the city healers can offer. The prince and princess would both wish to help her. Can you not at least ask one of them?" While Lucina wasn't sure what kind of medical aid her new charge required, the healers in the city would likely be very basic staff users, more capable of healing cuts and bruises than curing illnesses that could render one comatose. And she had no doubt that Chrom and Lissa would be more than happy to give aid—both for the sake of the unconscious girl and as thanks for Lucina's aid the night before.

"Look there are important things going on in the castle and we can't just-" the guard began but was cut off by a side door opening and another soldier coming out to them. The new guard clearly out ranked the first two, judging by his uniform. Additionally, his beard and hair were showing signs of graying, marking him as notably older than the others as well.

"Let her in," the senior guard commanded the first two.

"But sir! We can-"

"She was here last night. Helped Prince Chrom defend the Exalt. The Exalt, the Prince, and the Princess would all be furious if you turned her away. Let her in," the senior guard ordered. Lucina breathed a sigh of relief. Some of the guards who had helped in fending off the assassins were still on duty and for once, Lucina was relieved to be recognized.

Suddenly kowtowed, the guards quickly let her in. She'd chosen a small side gate that could easily be opened and closed instead of the large main gate specifically so that letting her in would be less of an ordeal. "Thank you," the future princess said to the senior guard who accompanied her in through the gate.

"It's us who should thank you," he replied. "I don't know all the details of what happened last night, but I saw you defend the Exalt from those damned Plegians. We owe you for your aid."

"Thanks aren't needed," Lucina told him as she slid off her horse. "But this girl needs medical attention badly. The castle is the only place I know with sufficiently able staff users."

The guard nodded and waved over a group of clerics who carefully unloaded the girl off Lucina's horse. "We'll get our best healers to take care of her," the guard said. He motioned for her to follow the clerics and then fell in line beside her. A stable boy took the reins of her horse and led it off. That wasn't a real problem-Lucina knew the castle well and could easily find the stables. "They will likely need to question you about her to figure out the best treatment. I have already sent a message to Prince Chrom about your arrival," the guard continued.

Lucina nodded thankfully, while hiding her inner disappointment. She had begun to hope she could be in and out before her father even realized she was there. But she could hardly explain to the guard that she didn't actually want to see the prince. "I found her collapsed in a field and was unable to wake her. I'm afraid I don't know much else," she said.

After a short walk through the castle the group arrived in the medical wing and entered a room where a group of healers was already waiting for them. The clerics carrying the patient carefully placed her on the bed. The guardsman nodded for her to enter, then took up position outside the door.

"Hi Marth!"

Apparently "our best healers" included Lissa and Maribelle, along with a few other magic users. Lissa had probably not stuck around for all the strategy meetings Chrom would now be attending. Indisposed indeed.

"Hello, Lissa," Lucina replied. Maribelle stiffened slightly. It was probably at the lack of honorifics, which Lucina just realized she should have used in addressing the princess.

Fortunately, Lissa didn't care in the least. "So you really are a girl, huh?" Lucina gave a somewhat shy shrug in response. Lissa chuckled. "Oh well. And I never really got to thank you for saving me earlier!"

"Think nothing of it," Lucina told her. Apparently Maribelle didn't really like that response either, but who knew with that woman?

Fortunately Lissa turned to the unconscious girl on the bed. "So what is wrong with your friend here?" she asked.

"I don't know," Lucina replied. "I found her passed out and couldn't wake her. She was running a fever. I didn't really have anywhere else to bring her for help."

Lissa nodded knelt beside the bed, placing a hand on the girl's forehead. "Yeah, that's a pretty high fever," the princess announced. "Get some cold water and some wash cloths," she ordered and a couple of the lower ranked clerics scurried off to comply. "Does she have any sort of poor constitution or tendency to be sickly?" she asked, turning back towards Lucina.

"I don't know," the time-traveler replied. "I don't actually know her. I found her collapsed and alone and couldn't very well leave her there."

At this, Lissa blinked several times before laughing. "Gods! You sound just like Chrom!" she announced giggling. Lucina was caught off guard by the comment. It was one of the greatest compliments you could give her—though Lissa had no idea it meant so much—but it also worried her. Being linked too closely with her father was something she wanted to avoid. Fortunately, Lissa turned back to her patient and began addressing the other healers. "Let's try a Restore staff for sure. And what do you think? An Anodyne staff?"

"Perhaps an Emend staff instead, darling?" Maribelle suggested, hunching over Lissa.

Lucina was not particularly well versed in the use of staves, but she knew the basics. With the ones used on the battlefield, healing power was the most important aspect of a staff and a staff user. In reality, the healing staves used there were rather basic; they fixed wounds. It was all a matter of how sever a wound was demanding higher levels of healing magic to successfully mend.

Dealing with illness was actually a much more complex matter than healing a wound. There were many more types of staves for treating illness because each one was designed to treat a specific ailment. Magical treatment was largely focused around determining what type of staff or staves a patient needed to have used on them. And, aside from wasting money by using unneeded staff uses, you had to be careful not to use a staff that might have a harmful effect when used on someone who didn't actually need it. The castle medical staff would have the largest collection of staves available to them, where as a local city doctor would likely only have a few of the most commonly used ones. Additionally, some of the staves would require greater power and skill to use. Of course, there existed some extremely powerful staves capable of healing any (or at least most) illnesses on their own. But those would be incredibly expensive and require and extremely skilled user.

Fortunately, treatment using healing staves was actually quite fast. After a few minutes, and several staff uses, one of the healers announced that the patient's fever was breaking. After a few final examinations, Lissa dismissed the other healers. Lucina was keen to leave as well, but she was sure the guard was still waiting just outside the room and, now that the treatment was over, Lissa had turned her attention back to her. "So. It seems you friend was suffering from some sort of extreme exhaustion," the blonde princess informed her.

"I've never heard of exhaustion like that before," Lucina replied in surprise.

Lissa nodded. "That's because it wasn't just a physical exhaustion, but a magical one as well. Quite a bit more serious. And more dangerous. It's like her natural magic was drained from her. Normally only happens to wizards going to far with their attempts at magic—often from trying to use a tome beyond their abilities. This was way more severe than that usually is though. If you hadn't brought her in she may have eventually wasted away from a lack of energy." Lucina blanched a bit at that. At least it seemed she had been fully justified in bringing the girl to the castle. "We have no idea what could cause something like that," Lissa continued. "So where exactly did you find her?"

"On my way out of the city," Lucina answered. "I spotted her laying passed out in a field."

Lissa gave her the most curious of looks at that, but before she could say anything another voice responded from behind them. "In a field? Maybe she's a tactician. I hear those grow in the fields around here."

A second voice replied, "I may not remember much, but I'm quite sure I wasn't _growing_ in that field."

Chrom and Robin had silently entered the room. Chrom was the taller and more muscular of the two young men. He also had blue hair that matched Lucina's own. He wore a high-class uniform much like hers too, though his frayed cape showed clear wear and tear. The sword on his hip was also identical to Lucina's—owing to them actually being the same sword from different points in time.

Robin was shorter and more wiry. He wore loose clothing with a dark robe over the top. Next to Chrom he looked almost sloppy, though that probably wasn't fair. He had sharp eyes and silver hair, which was a touch shorter than Chrom's.

Behind the two, a third man entered the room. Frederick stood silently behind his lord, hands classed behind his back. His massive plate armor, however, ruined the image of him as a servant waiting patiently.

"Hello, Marth," Chrom said, nodding to Lucina. "I'm surprised to see you again so soon. Even more surprised to hear you used the front door this time."

"Greetings Chrom," Lucina replied. "And I really _should_ be on my way. I'd already be long gone if I hadn't run into this girl passed out in a field."

"Feel no rush to leave on our part," Chrom told her. "We are grateful for the aid you have given us."

"So far you've saved Lissa, Chrom, and Emmeryn's lives. I think at this point even Frederick would have trouble doubting your intentions," Robin added.

The knight in question gave a noncommittal grunt. "I suppose you have—is that our mystery girl's coat?"

The question caught everyone off guard. For a second they all scanned the room looking for said coat. The girl's robe had been removed by the clerics before they placed her on the bed. It now sat draped over one of the chairs in the room.

"Yeah, I guess?" Lissa said. Having wound up the closest to the chair and also having most quickly caught on to what grabbed Frederick's attention, Robin was already moving towards the chair. He picked up the robe, grabbed it by the shoulders and held it up, letting it dangle free. Everyone suddenly went silent. Even Lucina was quite startled. Robin lifted the sleeve of the girl's robe and compared it to his own. The two cloaks were virtually identical.

"Alright...now things are getting weird," Chrom announced.

"It could just be a coincidence," Lissa offered.

"Have you ever seen another coat like it?" Frederick countered.

"Maybe you get them from sleeping in fields!" Lissa argued, practically forgetting the whole point and just defaulting to arguing with Frederick.

Lucina was suddenly very worried. She had only encountered this girl as a matter of chance—or at least so she thought. Was this girl somehow involved in the events surrounding her father? Or worse, in the events surrounding the fell dragon Grima? She was now unsure that bringing this girl to Ylisstol was such a good idea.

"Well, now we definitely have some questions for her when she wakes up," Robin said. Everyone readily agreed.

"You may not have to wait long," Maribelle announced. She had remained by the bed. "Our guest is stirring."

Lissa moved away from the others to rejoin Maribelle by the bed. Before she went though, she turned to Frederick and said, "Now don't going diving right in to an interrogation! Whatever is going on, the poor thing is recovering from quite an ordeal." Frederick said nothing, though he did adopt a somewhat more defensive stance, as if fearing he might need to shield his lord from the girl on the bed.

"Man, magical healing sure is fast," Robin commented.

Lucina was a bit torn. On the one hand, everyone was now focused on the girl, who was moaning slightly as she began to stir. It wouldn't be all that difficult to slip out behind them and leave like she had intended to. On the other hand, she was no longer sure that this girl was some simple innocent in need of help. Staying to hear the girl's story would at least help her decide if there was a new danger to her father.

In the end, her curiosity is what won the day. Lucina continued to watch with everyone else as the mystery girl stirred and finally opened her eyes. "Hello. Are you alright?" Lissa asked gently, sitting next to the girl who mumbled something unintelligible in response. "Easy now," Lissa told her. "You're safe. Just wore yourself out really bad. How are you feeling?" The girl moaned and then muttered something with the word "headache" in it.

"I'll prepare some herbal tea for that," Maribelle said softly, moving away from the bed after receiving a nod from Lissa.

The girl on the bed shook her head a few times as if to clear it and rubbed her eyes before propping herself up slowly. "Easy there," Lissa told her, helping her steady herself.

"'M 'kay," the girl muttered. She finally took notice of the large number of people in the room watching her. "Oh...hi," she said.

For a moment she scanned the faces of the people in front of her. Strangely she'd didn't seem all that alarmed to wake up surrounded by strangers. As a matter of fact, after examining the crowd around her she let out a relieved sigh. "Oh good. I made it," she said.

* * *

For her part, Morgan was feeling pretty drowsy. She also felt like a pegasus was tap-dancing in her skull. When the room had first swam into view for her, she had just been glad not to see any Risen around. A pleasant voice calling to her—which had turned out to be Aunt Lissa—was also a relief.

The last thing Morgan remembered from before had been the Outrealm, where she had been traveling to the past. She'd become separated from her friends when they were attacked by Risen. They had fought to hold off their foes so that Morgan could make the trip. She was, after all, the focal point of their attempt to alter history. If she didn't make it, nothing else mattered. But she had been attacked as she summoned the portal to open at the right place in time. She had fired off a magic blast at the Risen, blowing it to ash, but the magic had reacted with her portal. There had been some sort of feedback—she lost her focus. The portal had sparked strangely and then everything had gone black.

In all, it was a huge relief to find herself in front of the people she had been looking for. They all appeared younger as well. Aside from her father's and Chrom's youthfulness, it was her mother that really proved she was in the past where she was supposed to be. Lucina was young, yes, but she was still carrying her version of Falchion on her hip. She had hidden it away soon after the battle with Grima to avoid raising suspicions. Also, she wasn't wearing a mask and was with Chrom and Robin. That was as good of evidence as any that Morgan was in the right time.

It was almost a shame really. Morgan had wanted to arrive extra early and watch her mother play around at being "Marth." But there hadn't been time for that kind of messing around in the Outrealm; particularly after the Risen had attacked. And besides, if she had arrived that early it would have been important to stay hidden and not interact directly with her parents or the others. Oh well.

"Oh good. I made it," Morgan said after scanning the room-full of familiar faces. Her head was still pretty foggy, but at least the headache was subsiding. And the tea Maribelle was beginning to prepare off in the corner would probably help with that.

"You made it?" Chrom asked. "You were trying to reach "Ylisstol?"

"No—ngh," Morgan moaned as she sat up a little straighter. "I was looking for you guys."

"You were looking for us?" Chrom asked in surprise. Morgan nodded and noticed Frederick stiffen and inch closer to the blue-haired lord. Frederick the Wary in action.

"So, who are you?" her father finally asked.

Despite her head swimming, Morgan couldn't help but grin at that. In her opinion, it was one of the best parts about coming to the past. She wanted to savor her father's reaction to having such a huge revelation dropped on him.

"I'm Morgan," she replied, looking straight at her father and smiling. "I'm your daughter."

Robin blinked several times in confusion. "What?" he said dumbly.

"Your daughter," Morgan repeated.

"Um...I...that's not possible," Robin finally replied.

"I don't know," Lissa chimed in. "It's not like you can remember anything anyway."

Robin shot a glare at the princess. "If she was two-years-old you might have a point," he replied dryly. "She's too old to possibly be my daughter."

Morgan had always thought her father was the funniest when his dry sense of humor came out. But right now, he was being a bit on the dense side; couldn't put two and two together. She winced in pain at her headache but still managed to grin. "Well of course," she replied. "I'm your daughter from the future!"

That statement did not have the desired effect. Her father looked at her blankly before turning to share a confused look with an equally bewildered Chrom. The other Shepherds exchanged glances and a bit of muttering. Frederick was glaring at her sternly and Lissa was looking almost... sorry for her.

Had Morgan not still been quite groggy from her ordeal in the Outrealm and from being knocked unconscious, she would likely have added up the pieces more quickly. Had she been more focused on understanding everyone's reactions rather than focused on her disappointment in said reactions, she might have noticed quicker what was wrong with how the past Shepherds reacted. If she had been less focused on being dramatic, she might have noticed that only Lucina seemed to take her reveal seriously. But no. Morgan's mind was foggy, her headache distracting, and her lack of a dramatic reveal discouraging. So, instead of playing sick and confused or passing it off as a joke, she said pretty much the absolute worst thing she could have:

"You know, like how Lucina is Chrom's daughter from the future."

She even jabbed her thumb at her mother, in case anyone didn't notice Lucina there in the back leaning against the wall.

It was then that Morgan realized something was very wrong. Her father stared at her in confusion before glancing back at Lucina as if unsure who she was talking about. The look he gave after turning back around was even more peculiar, as if he was trying to solve a puzzle. Frederick announced that this was all clearly a farce. Chrom kept glancing back and forth between the two time-travelers. But the most telling response, the one that really made Morgan snap out of her groggy state and take notice, was the look of absolute mortification that had passed over her mother's face at that announcement.

"What is she talking about?" Chrom finally asked, turning towards his daughter.

"Uh, I don't...she's clearly delirious..." Lucina stuttered. Her weak refusal was actually more telling than anything.

"Judging by that look you made, you clearly know _something_ of what she's talking about," Robin stated.

"This is completely absurd," Frederick chimed in. "There is no way they are from the future. Perhaps they are in league and—"

"Peace Frederick," Chrom said, cutting the knight off. "What does she mean about being from the future?" he then asked Lucina.

The princess squirmed under his stare. "I...really should leave." Unfortunately for her, Frederick was the one closest to the door. With a single quick stride, he positioned himself in the doorway, blocking any attempts at leaving.

Lucina shot a withering glare at Morgan, who was beginning to realize that is was probably well deserved. She hadn't known there was a point in time where her mother had been unmasked but had not yet revealed her true identity. It also meant that Morgan had not arrived at the correct point in history. She was early.

Chrom started to make a motion towards Lucina but then stopped short. Instead, to everyone's surprise, he said, "Let her pass, Frederick."

"But my lord—"

Chrom held up a hand to silence him. "Since arriving here from where ever she came from, Marth—or Lucina or whatever your name is—has saved my life and the lives of my sisters. I'll not have her pressed for answers she is not willing to give." At this Frederick backed down and reluctantly stepped to the side of the door. Lucina glanced at the open frame warily, as if unsure what to do now that she was actually able to leave. Chrom turned to his future daughter. "I apologize. We got a bit over excited. You needn't reveal anything you do not wish to. You are free to go or stay. We still have some questions for Morgan here. Only..." He hesitated for a moment. "Only, would you mind telling me, is Lucina your real name?"

She hesitated for a minute. Morgan was pretty sure she wasn't the only one to notice the emotions boiling behind those eyes. Eventually, she spoke, "Yes...my name is Lucina."

"Are you really from the future?" Lissa asked. Chrom shot her a stern look, as if to ask _what did I just say?_ but the cleric held up her hands defensively. "She doesn't have to answer or anything. But Chrom, you remember the night we first met her? She came out of that gate in the sky. I've never seen anything like it! I've never even heard of magic like that! If you want to tell me that was some kind of portal to the future, I couldn't argue with you."

Lucina was quiet for a moment and everyone turned towards her. Morgan could tell her mind was racing with trying to decide how to handle the situation—hers was doing the same. On the one hand, interacting with the past any more than needed could be dangerous. Especially considering neither one of them had been born yet. Of course, it's not as if they would disappear if their parents never got together or anything. Sure, no younger versions of themselves would be born, but the two time-travelers were already severed from their futures by being in the past. Nothing done here would effect them, and they would have no future to return to. At least, that was the belief. No one was volunteering to test it.

Still, the damage was largely already done. Chrom would not likely forget Morgan's claim that Lucina was his daughter from the future, nor would her own father forget her claim. And unlike Lucina, Morgan was _not_ free to leave. She would have to answer questions one way or another. Confirming her own identity would all but confirm Lucina's as well. At this point, it might be safer to confirm their identities and then control what information they gave the people from the past. Not to mention the simple fact that it was painful to be around people you knew and loved without them knowing you.

"You don't have to answer," Chrom repeated.

"No I..." Lucina started then paused for a moment. She took a deep breath as if steeling herself up for what was to come. "I told you last night that the assassination of the Exalt and consequential theft of the Fire Emblem would eventually lead to the end of mankind itself."

Chrom nodded while everyone else looked a little more surprised at this news. Lissa gave a, "Wait, what?" while Frederick narrowed his eyes and Robin rested his chin on his hand in thought.

"You said that future had been averted," Chrom said, remembering their parting discussion.

"Yes," Lucina replied. "Had things gone unchanged, several years from now the Fire Emblem would be used in a ritual to revive the fell dragon, Grima."

"The evil dragon the first Exalt defeated a thousand years ago?" Lissa asked.

"The same," Lucina confirmed. "The Grimleal have long wished for the fell dragon's return. However, the Fire Emblem is a key artifact needed for actually reviving him. Had it been stolen last night, it would have eventually worked it's way into the hands of the Grimleal zealots who would use it to finally awaken Grima. Death spreads across the world, following in the fiend's wake. Grima is the source of the Risen. He can create them endlessly. The more who fall fighting him, the more Risen he can make."

For a moment the Shepherds in the room exchanged nervous glances and some quiet murmuring. Finally Frederick said, "And you know all of this...because you're from the future?" His questioning tone said he was not yet ready to believe her, but it was not outright dismissive and he wanted her to explain further.

All eyes turned back towards Lucina. She took a steadying break and continued, "Eventually, when mankind is pushed to the brink of annihilation, the divine dragon Naga revealed that she had prepared a ritual in case of such a tragic situation. It would allow humans to travel into the past and alter the course of history already written. I made the journey with companions, but we became separated and only I arrived at the correct time and place."

"There are more like you?" Robin asked.

"Yes. My friends. My plan was to go search for them now that history has been averted." Lucina gave a wistful smile at that.

"Don't worry! We'll help you find them!" Lissa promised.

"That is," Frederick interrupted, "after our current war with Plegia. And assuming you can offer us some proof to back up your story."

"Frederick!" Lissa screeched, preparing to go on a tirade against the skeptical knight, but Lucina held up a hand to silence her.

"No, he's right Aunt Lissa. It would be foolish to accept my story without proof."

"That's—wait, what did you...?" Lissa trailed off as Lucina turned towards Chrom.

"As...Morgan, yes? As Morgan said earlier...I am your daughter," she finally told him. "If you wish for proof, please, look into my eyes."

"Your eyes?" Chrom muttered, equal parts confused and dumbstruck. Though a part of him had already guessed at the truth, having it confirmed was still a bit of a shock. Lucina took two steps towards him and looked up at his face. He gazed back, meeting her stare. "What am I—oh!" His eyes widened in surprise before he leaned forward to look his future daughter straight in the eye. "You have the Brand of the Exalt in your eye," he said, earning gasps from the others in the room.

"That and this sword are all I have left of you...father," Lucina replied softly. "That's how there can be two Falchions, one is from my—urk!" the time-traveler let out a surprised grunt.

Chrom had already figured out how the twin swords had come to be and he had already decided that he believed her. Instead of letting her continue on trying to sell her story to the group, he had reached out and grabbed her should in order to pull her into a tight hug. "It's alright, Lucina," he said softly into her hair. "I'm sorry you had to go through so much."

"Father..." Lucina whimpered. Her face had shown confusion when Chrom had suddenly hugged her, but soon tears began to well up in her eyes. Finally she broke down and began to cry against his chest while he stroked her hair.

"Frederick," Chrom said looking up from his daughter. "She's telling the truth."

"Understood, milord," the knight replied. "I'm sorry for my rudeness."

"Don't be," Lucina said, finally pulling away from Chrom and wiping the tears from her eyes. "You were only looking out for Father's well being."

"Father..." Chrom muttered.

"Oh!" Lucina exclaimed, only just realizing she had reverted to calling Chrom her father. "I'm sorry. That...that's weird, isn't it? Would you rather I call you Chrom?"

"That..." the blue-haired prince started before pausing for a moment. "No, it's fine. It _is_ weird, but not in a bad way." Lucina gave a happy nod to that.

The room was more or less silent for a few moments before Lissa commented, "Well now I have so many questions!" A murmur of agreement ran through the room. "Firstly" she started, "who is y-"

"Firstly," Robin cut in over Lissa, "Maybe we should question our other guest claiming to be from the future."

And with that, all eyes turned towards Morgan. _Gee thanks, Dad!_ she thought with a groan. Outwardly she gave as awkward smile and a little wave. "Uh, yeah. Hi. No point trying to take it back, I guess. My name is Morgan. I'm Robin's daughter from the future," she said wryly.

"You know her?" Chrom asked Lucina after a short pause.

"No," she replied. "Actually, I know for a fact that Robin never had any children." This caused another murmur to pass through the room.

"But she knew who you were," Robin pointed out. "Even your name."

"That...yes, I'm actually very curious about that too," Lucina replied. "How did you know who I was?"

"Well that's...err, I want to say simple, but it's actually kinda complicated," Morgan replied bashfully. "You see, I'm from the future—just not the same future Lucina is from."

"How does that work?" Lucina asked, folding her arms and giving Morgan a rather pointed stare.

"It's like this," Morgan began after a second of thought. "You and your friends traveled back in time to change history, yeah? But now the future you are from no longer exists. You can't go back to it. Only those of you who traveled to the Outrealm by Naga's ritual still exist from that future. You follow me?"

Lucina gave a nod of understanding. Robin also nodded as if he was following along, while Chrom just shrugged as if to say "Sure."

Morgan continued, "So, now the only future is the one where a bunch of time-travelers have arrived and changed things. You guys more or less succeed and save the world. Happy endings for everyone! And now we have a future where there are two Lucinas—you, who are nearly the same age as your father, and baby Lucina, who hasn't even been born yet."

Morgan paused to take a sip of the tea Maribelle had given her. She was wide awake now, and any remaining headache was likely caused by her own slip up, rather than her physical condition. "So you see," she went on, " _That's_ the future I am from. One where Chrom and Father don't die while you are young and where Dad actually _does_ have a child. That's why I know all about you," she gestured to Lucina, "while you know nothing about me. I grew up in a world where there were actually two of you."

"I...guess that makes sense with what I know of time travel," Lucina finally said. "But if we won and saved the future, then why are you here?"

"Well..." Morgan knew that question would come, but she wasn't really wanting to deal with it. "I'm going to have to be a bit vague about that." Clearly that was not an answer Frederick could accept. He began to object, but Chrom silenced him almost immediately. "I didn't say I wouldn't tell you anything!" Morgan added quickly. "I just can't fully explain it all right now. But, to make it simple, in a few years from now, you guys will be victorious over the forces of Grima. At that time, Chrom will have a choice. He can either seal Grima away—as his ancestor once did, or he can slay Grima for good." At that point, Lucina looked like she wanted to interject, but Morgan raised a hand to cut her questions off. "The problem," she continued, "is that slaying Grima forever required a sacrifice to be made. One that Chrom was not willing to make. So instead he sealed Grima away."

At this point, Lucina did interrupt, "I highly doubt Father would be so unwilling to make a sacrifice to save the world."

"That's true," Robin agreed. "I get the feeling he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice his own life if it meant saving the world."

Chrom blushed a bit at the way people were standing up for him, but Morgan raised her hands to cut them off. She countered, "Sure, Chrom would be willing to give his life. I don't doubt it. But would he be willing to sacrifice someone else?" The room went silent at that. "Again, I have to be vague here, but while Chrom is the one who has to make the choice, he's not the one who has to pay the price. As such, are you really that surprised that he might choose to take the sealing option—as the first Exalt once did?"

Whispers ran through the room. "Well...I suppose that would make more sense," Lucina conceded. "But that still doesn't explain why you are here."

"Right. So. Sealing away Grima is supposed to be a long-term deal," Morgan continued. "Like a thousand years. But something went wrong. Grima had made some sort of contingency plan before he was defeated. So, a bit more than a decade after he was sealed away, some of his followers were..." Morgan trailed off as a painful expression passed over her face. After taking a moment to gather herself, she went on, "Well, they were able to revive Grima early." The act had involved them capturing her father while he was unawares and sacrificing him to revive Grima. In her future, Robin had been the first casualty of the Fell Dragon reborn. Pushing unwanted thoughts and emotions from her head, Morgan continued, "So then we were all back to square one. Grima, the Risen, the end of the world. It all just came a bit later than in your time." She nodded to Lucina.

"You make it sound like we had defeated Grima before," Chrom commented. "Could we not do it again?"

Morgan shook her head. "Yes, you actually did manage to defeat Grima the first time. But when he returned he took everyone by surprise. Several...important people died before we really knew what was going on. People who had played key roles in defeating Grima the first time." The Shepherds had, of course, tried to follow and rescue her father when he was kidnapped. But they had been wholly unprepared to find themselves facing a a revived Grima. Several had died, and, while Chrom had survived, he never fully recovered from the sudden loss. Drawing strength from his bonds was what had allowed him to triumph the first time, but the sudden loss of those bonds was a wound more crippling than any other.

"So then," Frederick spoke up for the first time in a while. "You are here to insure Lord Chrom chooses to slay Grima regardless of the cost this time?"

All faces turned back to Morgan once again. "Well kind of," she replied. "See, we found a way around it. I have a...method that will allow you to slay Grima for good without having to pay so severe a cost. I can't say it will be entirely free...but no one will have to die for it."

"And that method is?"

Morgan shook her head. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to be vague here. You guys are not ready for that. Until you discover for yourselves how to slay Grima in the first place, I can't explain it to you."

Frederick folded his arms and grunted, clearly unsatisfied. The room fell into silent contemplation for a few minutes. Finally, Frederick spoke again. "So, do you have any proof to support your story?" Everyone looked at him quizzically. He shrugged and motioned to Lucina. "She has the Brand of the Exalt, a second Falchion, was witnessed arriving through a magical portal, predicted the attack last night, and has protected every member of the royal family in battle. Your only proof thus far is that you knew Lady Lucina's identity." Everyone exchanged glances and Lissa opened her mouth to berate him, but he held up a hand to stop her. "I'm sorry milady, but while having one person from the future does make her story possible, perhaps even plausible, it is far from proof."

"He does have a point." Surprisingly, it was Morgan who replied. " I don't exactly have a legendary sword or mystic birthmark to validate my lineage or anything." Well, she _did_ have the birthmark, but that would raise entirely different questions she wanted to avoid. "And you all just met me. So, Frederick, what do you think would constitute as good proof?"

The wary knight blinked in surprise as the question was turned back around on him. But he quickly went into critical thinking mode, as did Robin and the others. How could they prove or disprove Morgan's story?

"She not only knew of me, but also knows quite a bit about Grima and the future," Lucina commented. "She most like _is_ from the future. At least _a_ future."

"Perhaps," Frederick agreed. "But is there anything to prove she is actually Robin's daughter or that her story is true?"

"Well it's no magic sword," Lissa noted, "But she does have a jacket just like Robin's. You're the one who first pointed that out, oh Frederick the Wary."

Before the knight could reply, Morgan interjected, "Oh it's not just like Father's jacket, it _is_ Father's jacket. He gave it to me a few years ago. Brady hemmed it for me because it was a bit too long, though."

"In that case, let me check it over," Robin said. "It may not be the Falchion, but if it has the same stitches and patches mine does, that's pretty good evidence."

"Anything else?" Chrom asked as those gathered there considered what proofs they could ask for.

"How about you tell us your mother's name?" Lissa suggested. "That might help."

"None of you know my mothers name to know if I'm lying," Morgan replied. "Besides, it is probably safer that I don't tell you that." She had a distinct feeling that the question had been more about getting information out of her than proving anything.

And Lissa's follow up question confirmed that. "Okay. How about you tell us who Lucina's mother is and she can confirm it?"

"How about not," Lucina cut in. "I would have rather not revealed my identity until well after Father was married and my younger self was born—if at all. It's probably better if you all don't know in advance."

"Yeah, I have to agree," Morgan said. While the looks everyone was giving showed that Lissa had now firmly planted the question in their minds, they seemed to accept the reasoning behind the silence. "I actually arrived here earlier that expected. I was supposed to arrive after you already knew who Lucina was and had also met her other companions. I didn't intend to give her identity away."

"Maybe you should have confirmed that before you said anything," Lucina commented. She didn't appear angry, but she clearly had a bit of a grudge at Morgan for giving her away.

"But I did! Where's your mask?!"

"...what?"

"Your mask!"

"I lost it during the battle last night. Father and Robin found out I was a woman, but that was all," Lucina explained, slightly confused.

"You never told me you lost your mask early!" Morgan practically cried. "I thought you not having it meant they knew who you were."

Lucina let out a slight murmur of understanding at the cause of Morgan's confusion, but before she could say anything, Robin spoke up. "Well, it seems this is definitely my coat." Everyone turned to him. "Look here," he said, holding up both coats. "It's the same stitched up tear. And there is another one here. Morgan's coat has more repairs than mine, but the tears and marks are all either there, or that part of the coat has been completely replaced."

Chrom nodded. "That's pretty convincing. Anyone need more proof?"

Frederick shuffled, clearly not satisfied, but it was actually Lucina who spoke up. "I have an idea." She turned to Morgan again. "You say you know me and my friends well from your time. Can you tell me something about us? Something personal. Anyone from the future could know who my mother is, but if you were part of the Shepherds family, you should know some more personal things about us."

Everyone considered this before looking to Morgan. "Hmmm. That's a good idea," she said, thinking for a moment. "What was it he used to say...? Oh yeah. 'Pretty Princess Puddin-pie' wasn't it?" The whole room gave Morgan the most confused look yet. Except for Lucina. Lucina's face had gone bright red. But Morgan continued, "And of course there was Pega-Pon- _mghf!_ "

With speed that took everyone by surprise, Lucina clapped her hand over Morgan's mouth. "Not. Another. Word." she stammered, her face burning. The rest of the room just stared at the two of them as a surprised Morgan nodded slowly and Lucina eventually released her. After taking a deep, calming breath, Lucina finally said to he rest of the room, "I think she's telling the truth."

"So," Lissa said after an uncomfortable silence. "If Pretty Princess Puddin-pie here is convinced, so am I."

Lucina's face went even redder than before. Robin snickered, but tried to pass it off as a cough. Maribelle let out an unladylike snort of laughter, which she quickly tried to hide. Chrom gave a good-natured chuckle while turning a bit red himself. It didn't take a genius to figure out who had given her the nickname that Lucina found so embarrassing.

Recovering himself, Robin walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed Morgan was sitting up in. "So you're really my daughter then?" he asked. She nodded and he reached over and ruffled her hair. "Sorry for all the interrogation," he told her. "This is all pretty weird."

"You don't know the half of it," Morgan replied, giving a grin as a few tears welled up in her eyes. Seeing this, Robin reached over and (somewhat awkwardly) pulled her into a hug. As they pulled away, Morgan mutter a quiet "Thanks."

"So," Frederick finally said, breaking the silence. "Where exactly do we go from here?"

"We should obviously keep this whole thing under wraps," Robin spoke up. "I don't think we want word about time-travelers spreading." The whole group immediately voiced agreement to that.

"We'll need to tell Emm," Chrom stated. "Besides her, there are the rest of the Shepherds. We should limit the knowledge to just them." He thought for a minute. "So what will you two do?" he finally asked, turning towards Lucina and Morgan.

"What do you mean?" Lissa asked, confused at Chrom's question.

"Lucina said she had intended to go find her friends," he replied. "She obviously doesn't want to give away too much information about the future, but now the cat's out of the bag, as it were." He turned back to the time-travelers. "You are totally welcome to stay here with us. We are currently gearing up for war with Plegia, but afterward we would be glad to help you find your friends."

"It's true that a big part of why I tried to avoid you was to prevent you from discovering who I was," Lucina said after a moment. "But if I were to stay here there are many other things I would have to be careful not to reveal about the future. Mine may no longer exist, but I would like to allow your lives to play out as much as possible without interference."

"And, frankly speaking," Morgan added, "the more we are here, changing things, the less accurate my knowledge of the future will be. Although..." she trailed off for a moment. "On the other hand, things have already changed, even if just slightly. It might instead be safer to stay close by to keep an eye on things." She groaned. "This is why I had intended to arrive a few years from now. I'm not sure what the best course of action is."

"That is a fair point," Lucina conceded, furrowing her brows in thought.

"Not an easy choice," Robin noted sympathetically. He could tell that this was hard decision—one where there was no real way to tell what the right thing to do was. Both possibilities had benefits and drawbacks.

"Actually, would it be possible for us to have some time to speak privately?" Morgan finally asked, motioning to herself and Lucina.

"What for?" Lissa asked.

"So we can discuss what to do without worrying about saying something you guys shouldn't overhear," Morgan replied. "We're kind of in the same boat now. And there are things I can tell her that I can't really tell the rest of you."

Lucina nodded. "She has a good point. And I have some questions for her that I can't really ask with all of you around."

"That makes sense," Robin admitted. "But how a bout waiting a few hours on that."

"Why?" Morgan asked.

"Because you look ready to keel over any moment now," he told her.

It wasn't until he said something that Morgan really noticed how tired she was. "I'm fine," she said anyway, sliding her legs out to get out of the bed she had been placed one—only for Lissa and Maribelle to stop her.

"Oh no. You are staying in bed," Lissa told her, physically pushing her back.

"You are recovering from an extreme magical exhaustion," Maribelle added. "You could have died. You need rest."

Robin nodded. "Get some sleep and we will talk later. You and Lucina can discuss how best to proceed then."

Morgan began to protest, but Lissa cut her off, swinging a staff in her face. "Nope. You are going to rest. Now," the spunky princess said. Only as the tip of the staff began to glow did Morgan realize it was a Sleep Staff. And then her world went dark.

* * *

"You...are kind of scary sometimes, Lissa," Robin commented as Morgan fell away into a magic-induced slumber.

"And don't you forget it!" she replied. "So what now?"

"Well, first off, you, Lucina, and I are going to go have a really awkward chat with Emmeryn," Chrom stated. Lucina began to protest but he shook his head. "You're not getting out of this one," he told her. "After that, we'll meet up with the rest of the Shepherds."

"I'll keep an eye on Morgan," Robin said, brushing a lock of hair away from her sleeping face. "Come get me when you are ready to head over to the Shepherds."

"Sounds good," Chrom agreed. "And you Maribelle?"

"I still need to make a few rounds with the castle healers," she said. "After that I will go the the rest of the Shepherds. I shall refrain from telling them anything until you arrive."

"Thanks for covering my rounds," Lissa told her.

"Anything for you, my sweet."

"Sounds like a plan," Chrom concluded. "Let's go."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

It has been a long, long time since I have published anything on here. I used to write a bunch way back in the day (though I rarely finished). However, this story has been gnawing at me for a long time. I'm a huge (and old) Fire Emblem fan and I also love time-travel stories, so Awakening was right up my ally. Finally, I decided to actually start writing this sucker out. Updates may be slow (I am quite busy), but I intend to make sure they are all significant in length and (hopefully) in quality. Suggestions are always welcome, though many of the pairings are already decided (there are some I am still unsure of, though). Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Fire Emblem: Awakening— _A Future Intervention_**

 **Chapter Two**

It was nearly four hours before Chrom returned to Morgan's room.

At first, Robin had been unsure of what to do with the sleeping time-traveler. The idea that this girl was his daughter was bizarre. He was torn between the rush of fatherly emotions and the weirdness of her being basically a total stranger to him. He just wasn't sure how to act. Was brushing a hair out of her face kind or creepy? Should he trust her, or was he just being emotional? The more he tried not to think about it, the more he found himself doing just that.

Unfortunately, even reading did not prove to be a useful distraction from his thoughts. After Robin found himself starting the same page for the fourth time he admitted defeat. He soon resorted to pacing around the room. If Morgan had been a wake he was sure he would have plenty to talk with her about. Even steering away from sensitive topics about the future, he had a lot of things he wanted to ask her. What kinds of books did she read? What kinds of food were her favorite? What did she do in her spare time? There were so many questions and no forthcoming answers. It was vexing.

Fortunately for Robin's sanity, a little over an hour later there was a knock on the door. Opening it, he was a little surprised to find Lissa and Lucina, but not Chrom. "He got trapped in another meeting," Lissa informed the silver-haired tactician. "We're planning to leave tomorrow to take Emm somewhere safe. Then we're going back to Ferox as planned."

Robin nodded. "I had a feeling our departure was going to be delayed a bit," he said.

"Yep," Lissa replied. "So we came back here to wait for Chrom." She nodded towards Lucina. "We didn't want to go meet the other Shepherds without him."

"There would have been many awkward questions we didn't want to get into until Father was with us," Lucina added.

"Fair enough," Robin responded. "How was your meeting with the Exalt?"

"It was...interesting," Lucina mumbled. "I'd never actually met her; as she was supposed to die last night and I haven't been born yet."

"Emm was kind of confused at first," Lissa added. "She couldn't really picture us trying to play a practical joke on her, but the story was pretty unbelievable."

"You mean she couldn't picture Chrom playing a practical joke," Robin corrected sternly. The blonde princess stuck out her tongue at him.

Lucina chuckled slightly and said, "Fortunately, the Brand in my eye and my Falchion were able to convince her we were serious." The time-traveler smiled a bit. "She was obviously stunned."

"A normal reaction," Robin commented, casting a glance at Morgan's sleeping form.

"Indeed," the blue-haired princess agreed. "In all, she took it rather calmly. I told her some about the future I come from and she asked me about my plans from here out. She was quite understanding about me still trying to decide how much help and information I can give."

"Yeah," Robin replied. "That only reminds me of how many questions I have myself. Unfortunately, Morgan has not been a great source of information since Lissa put her to sleep."

"Don't worry," said Lissa. "We can definitely grill her for information once she gets a few more hours of shuteye!" The spunky princess's eyes were burning with excited anticipation. Robin was beginning to feel a little worried for his future daughter.

Lucina also blanched slightly. "Don't forget that she and I need to discuss what we can safely tell you before you can go interrogating her."

"Fine," Lissa groaned before turning on her future niece with renewed interest. "Which reminds me, what _can_ you tell us without having to talk with Morgan first?" Lucina began to wave off the question, but Lissa pressed further, "You already mentioned you have lost comrades you need to find, right? Other people from the future. You called them friends, so then they are probably around your same age, yeah? Tell us about them!"

Lucina shrunk back a bit from her feisty aunt. "Uh...I don't think I should," she stuttered. "It would be hard to talk about them without mentioning their parents, and I..."

"So their parents are people we know," Robin interjected. He had also guessed that Lucina's "friends" were also children from the future. But that hadn't meant they would be anyone he or the others would know. But, judging from Lucina's reaction, that wasn't the case. "I'm guessing that means Shepherds—at least for one parent."

The blue-haired princess snapped her mouth shut at that. Robin got the feeling that she was reevaluating what she could safely say around him. But now she was back on her guard and was unlikely to let anything else slip.

Lissa continued to try and question Lucina for another hour. Eventually, a reprieve came in the form of servants bringing them lunch. They left some bread, cheese, and fruit for Morgan for when she would awaken. After that is was around another hour and a half before Chrom joined them.

"It seems like every simple action requires an endless number of meetings," he huffed once he closed the door.

"There is not much room for error when preparing for war," Robin reminded him.

"Perhaps, but that's why I keep you around," the prince replied, grinning slightly. "Over-planning is not my forte."

Robin chuckled lightly. He really appreciated how much Chrom trusted him and relied on him; despite how short of time they had known each other. For someone with no memories of their past, it was particularly fortunate to find such a good friend so fast.

"So, are we ready to meet up with the others?" Chrom asked.

"What about Morgan?" Robin interjected.

"She's had a pretty good nap at this point," Lissa replied. "It should be fine to wake her up now." The cleric moved over to the collection of staves left in the room and selected one from the bunch. She waved it over Morgan's sleeping form, the tip glowing with magic power. After a moment, the time-traveler began to stir again.

Morgan muttered a few incoherent things before sitting up and rubbing her eyes. After yawning, she turned towards the staff-wielder. "You're kind of scary sometimes, Aunt Lissa," she grumbled.

"And don't you forget—what did you say?" Lissa began before realizing what Morgan had called her.

"What? Oh!" Morgan took a second to realize what she had said, before waving the princess off. "No, sorry, you're not actually my aunt," she explained. "You and Chrom are my father's closest friends, so you are _as good as_ my aunt, and I've always called you that. But I will go ahead and tell you are not _literally_ my aunt. Incidentally, Chrom has always been Uncle Chrom to me, too."

"Fooey!" Lissa grumbled as Chrom chuckled sheepishly. "And here I was hoping you had let something slip!"

"She's not going to give up any time soon, is she?" Lucina muttered to no one in particular.

Robin was actually relieved to hear Morgan's denial. He'd instantly followed that line of reasoning and realized that the only way for Lissa to be his daughter's aunt, would be for him to marry Lissa's sister—Emmeryn. While the Exalt seemed like a good—perhaps wonderful—person, the idea was more than a little intimidating. However, an awkward tidbit still nagged at him: it would have made sense! Morgan wasn't born in Lucina's future; a future where Emmeryn had been assassinated. It would explain why Morgan only existed in the altered timeline. Even if it wasn't Emmeryn, there was a good chance that Morgan's mother was someone who had died, or whom they had never met in the original course of history.

Robin was pulled from his musings by Chrom announcing it was time to meet up with the rest of the Shepherds. Morgan took the food that had been left for her to go, and the group set off for a totally different section of the castle.

* * *

The Shepherds made their base in smaller building that rested against the outer wall of the castle. It was not actually attached to the main keep, but was still within the walls. Such a setup offered them unique privacy from the rest of the castle staff. Which was probably good, considering how rowdy the Shepherds tended to be, compared to the regular soldiers of the Halidom.

Outside the two-story barracks was a fenced in training area; including marked off areas for weapons combat, a target range, and a small list field for practicing mounted combat. Additionally, the barracks had its own small stable attached on the other side—Sumia, Sully, and Stahl were the only ones to keep their mounts there normally, though it could easily hold twice as many beasts. Frederick kept his charger in the main castle stables, as he had a room in the main keep. Maribelle usually stayed in her family's estate in the city and only stabled her horse at the Shepherds base when she was there herself. The rest of the Shepherds did not typically ride horses or other mounts.

Surprising absolutely no one, a young woman in red armor was out in the training yard, swinging around a practice sword. More surprising was the young man in matching green armor sparring with her. The two had obviously been at it for a while, as they were both covered in sweat.

Morgan peered keenly at the two as her group approached. Even she recognized Sully and Stahl without any trouble. Sully's hair was actually even shorter than it had been in her time, while Stahl's was perhaps a tad longer. Both were obviously younger, just like the rest of the Shepherds.

The two knights had stopped swinging their swords at each other, though they had not yet noticed the group approaching them. As they got closer, Morgan and the others began to catch snippets of their conversation.

"Wait, you're the Bull in this scenario?" Stahl said a little louder than whatever he had said before that.

"You got a problem with that?" By contrast, Sully did not have to raise her voice—it was never lowered in the first place. Stahl waved off her comment, clearly trying to mollify her and muttered something else Morgan didn't catch.

By this point, the knights had noticed their approaching lord and his entourage. "Har, Chrom! There you are!" Sully called out, waving. Stahl turned at her call and also waved to the group.

"I see you're not skipping out on training," Chrom replied as he pulled up close to them. The knights were inside a fenced of sparring area, so Chrom's group walked up to the fence and paused there.

"Course not!" Sully replied. "Everyone else is acting like we have the day off or something. I had to practically drag this louse out her to spar with me."

Stahl chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "She thought we were still leaving this morning," he told them. "She was really mad when no one else was ready to go at first light." Sully scowled at him.

"Sorry, I should have done a better job letting you know," Chrom replied.

"Ha, it's not a big deal," Sully finally conceded. "I had more time to train at least. So what's with your little band here? I see some new faces."

"That's a long story," Chrom told her. "Head on inside. We're going to have a strategy meeting and I want all the Shepherd there."

"Gotcha, Captain," the knights replied with a quick salute. As her past grandfather led them on towards the main entrance to the Shepherd's garrison, Morgan noticed how Sully and Stahl began grabbing towels and buckets of water. After taking a couple gulps from the bucket, Sully dumped the rest of it over her head to cool herself off. Stahl was a little more strained—wetting the towel and wiping his face with it. Morgan grinned slightly. It was almost exactly like how she would have pictured the two knights when they were younger.

The time-travelers and the others entered the building to find a large entry room with a few tables and several chairs. A wooden staircase in the back of the room led up to the second floor, while two doors led further back into the building. Another door on the side led off to the training area.

"There you are!" Maribelle declared when they entered. "Lissa, my sweet, I was beginning to wonder what was keeping you."

"Chrom just got stuck in some more meetings," the princess replied, waving off her friend's concern. "Nothing to get worried about."

"Welcome back, Captain! I, err, we- _ah!_ " Sumia had also been waiting in the room. At the sight of Chrom, she had sprung to her feet. Unfortunately, she did so a bit too quickly, and wound up stumbling and faceplanting herself on the floor.

"Are you alright, Sumia?" Chrom asked concerned. The rest of the group either rolled their eyes or stifled their grins. The only ones really surprised were Morgan and Lucina. Neither of them had actually known Sumia when she was still tripping over herself every time she saw Chrom.

The two time-travelers caught each others eyes for a moment. _I thought they were joking,_ Morgan mouthed to Lucina, who nodded. They had both heard stories of Sumia's legendary falls, but neither had realized how literal those stories were.

"You...really should try some different boots," Chrom commented, offering a scarlet-faced Sumia his hand and helping her to her feet. Sumia muttered something that was probably a mixture of thanks and agreement before backing off and straightening her skirt.

"Just think," Morgan whispered to Lucina, "if you had left last night you'd have missed that." The blue-haired princess actually had to cover her mouth with her hand to hide her grin.

"Anyway," Chrom finally said, drawing attention back to himself. "Can we get everyone in here? We have some important things to discuss, and I want all the Shepherds here as quickly as we can."

"No problem!" Vaike replied. He was one of the two others waiting in the main room. "Ol' Teach will-"

"Cover your ears."

"Huh?" Vaike turned towards Miriel, who had cut him off.

"Cover your ears," she repeated. The female mage was seated at one of the tables and had several books stacked in front of her. She closed the one she had been leafing through and set it to the side before picking up what was clearly a magical tome.

Most of the Shepherds present decided to take Miriel's advice, though they weren't sure what she was up to. Vaike did not, and he had just begun talking back to her, when Miriel said, "Thunder!"

Morgan wasn't sure what the scientist-mage had done to modify the spell, but the effect was obvious. The bolt of lightning created was insignificant; hitting a nearby spoon with all the force of a static shock. The accompanying peal of thunder, though, was a window-shaking boom that echoed through the building. Vaike staggered back, now holding his ears, even as the others were uncovering theirs.

"What in tarnation was that?!" Sully demanded, as she and Stahl entered from the side door. But, before anyone could answer her, more of the Shepherds began to appear from the other doors—many with weapons drawn. "Whozzat-?" "-we under attack?" "hold villain-"

"Miriel, what was that?!" Lissa finally demanded.

"An experiment," the mage replied, scratching notes into her tome. "Effective, but perhaps too aggressive..." she muttered.

"Definitely too aggressive," Robin agreed. "Maybe we should just get a bell instead." Morgan silently agreed with her father. Several others nodded as well.

"Well, whatever," Chrom muttered. "Anyway, I wanted everyone here—I guess I shouldn't be too picky about the method." He scanned the crowd that had assembled. "Is this everyone? Good. Find a seat and get comfortable. We're having a strategy meeting and we have some important things to go over."

He gave the group a few moments to get situated. Robin motioned to Morgan that they should grab a seat as well. She followed him over to a set of chairs to one side of Chrom. Lissa and Lucina found seats on the other side, with Maribelle immediately sitting next to Lissa. A slightly nervous Ricken _just happened_ to take the next seat, closest to Maribelle. Virion, still smoothing out his ruffled shirt, took a seat by him.

Vaike moved to a seat as far away from Miriel as possible, while Sumia sat next to her. Donnell sat cross-legged on the floor—there weren't enough chairs for everyone. Gaius took a seat in a nearby windowsill, lounging with one leg up and one dangling free. Lon'qu and Panne folded their arms and leaned against the back wall—as far away from each other and anyone else as possible. Sully and Stahl leaned up against the side wall, near Gaius. Frederick remained standing, taking position behind and to the side of Chrom.

Once everyone had gotten comfortable, the young lord began the meeting. "First off," he said, "I want to thank everyone for their work last night. Thanks to all of you, those Plegian dastards weren't able to harm a single hair on Emmeryn's head. Thank you all." Embarrassed murmurs rippled through the room.

After a moment, Chrom continued, "Now on to new business. I hope you have all had a chance to meet Panne and Gaius, who joined us last night. Panne came to the Exalt's defense as a matter of honor. Gaius...well..."

"I'm a thief," Gaius called out. "No need to sugar coat it." Morgan noticed him slightly lick his lips at that. "Anyway, I pick locks and steal stuff. I got hired to open some doors. But then people started talking about murder and, well, I'm no assassin. I don't harm people unless they try to harm me. So last night, I had a little talk with the blue blood here and he made me a sweeter deal. So now I work for him."

Maribelle stuck up her nose and glared at him. Several others gave the thief appraising glances. Vaike gave Gaius a welcoming smile—though it wasn't clear how much of that he had caught on to. Sully glared while Stahl gave a small wave. Mixed reactions were to be expected, and the self-proclaimed thief didn't seem bothered.

"Right," Chrom continued. "Moving on, let's discuss our current plans. Obviously, our departure this morning was delayed because of the attack last night. We have had to adjust our plans. Now we will be departing tomorrow. However, instead of heading straight to Ferox, we will first be traveling with the Pegasus Knights to escort the Exalt to a safe location. After that, we will continue on to Regna Ferox as planned. We'll return with reinforcements from the Khan to help fight Plegia."

As Chrom began to explain the plan in more detail, Morgan started to think. The assassination attempt last night could well be considered the first official battle of the new war between Ylisse and Plegia—not counting the border incident that had kicked the whole thing off. In the future— _her_ future—when they had formulated their plan to make use of time travel once again, the adults had been sure to load Morgan down with information about the past. She'd already has a general knowledge of events, but they had filled in a lot of information that had previously been left out or glossed over.

Except the part about "Marth" losing her mask during the assassination attempt.

Either way, Morgan knew what was coming next. The Shepherds would lead Emmeryn towards the eastern palace, but they would never actually make it there. A few days into the trip, the party would be ambushed. While that, in and of itself was no real concern (the Shepherds could handle it just fine), they also received word that Plegia had overrun the boarders and entered Ylisse. King Gangrel had already been prepared for the assault, and once he knew the assassination had failed, he would invade immediately.

The Exalt would insist on returning the Ylisstol while Chrom (with the Fire Emblem) would go to Ferox for reinforcements. This would set off the whole series of events where Emmeryn would be captured and eventually jump to her own death to prevent Chrom from giving in to Gangrel's demands. However, the Exalt's final words would have a huge impact upon the people of Plegia, who would abandon their king in droves. What had been a bloody battle through a hostile nation in Lucina's future had been an uncontested march straight to Gangrel in Morgan's future. Emmeryn had saved many lives at the cost of her own.

For the first time, the weight of what was happening fully pulled on Morgan. She could save Emmeryn's life with a few words here and now. But doing so would cause the casualties of the upcoming war to skyrocket. Or she could let Emmeryn die, despite knowing what was going to happen to her. That would save many more lives—as well as help keep history on the path Morgan knew. Suddenly the past didn't seem quite as much fun.

Trying to keep herself from being weighed down by dark thoughts, the time-traveler forced herself to focus on the meeting at hand. Her father was currently the one talking; he was taking stock of the Shepherd's equipment.

"Alright, Vaike, you keep the hand axe and the warhammer, along with your iron axe. You and Frederick are the only ones who uses axes, and he has a lance and a sword as well."

"No worries! You can leave it to Ol' Teach!" came the reply.

While the Shepherds were something of a special military unit, they enjoyed considerable freedom from the standard army. As a consideration, they supplied their own weapons. That way it didn't look too much like the Exalt was favoring them, or that they were being propped up by royal money.

Robin continued. "Alright, Ricken, is your Elwind tome still in good shape? Good. Keep a hold of that and make sure you have a Fire and Thunder tome as well, to cover your bases." The diminutive mage voiced his agreement and the tactician continued, "Miriel, I bought an Elfire tome and I want you to take it. Same deal: make sure you have a good wind and thunder tome with you as well." The scholar nodded an affirmative. "I'll keep my Elthunder tome, along with an iron sword. That should cover all our magic users."

Morgan watched as her father double checked the list in his hand. "Gaius, you use a sword, right? Any armor?"

"Armor gets in the way of hiding in the shadows," came the reply. "But yes, I can handle a sword."

"You already have an iron sword, yes? I'm going to have you hold on to the wyrmslayer we picked up as well. It'll be useful if we encounter any of Plegia's wyvern riders. Lon'qu has his killing edge and an iron sword as a backup. Chrom has the Falchion, of course."

For the first time Lon'qu spoke up, "My iron sword is in poor shape. It can't keep an edge and won't be of use much longer." Naturally, weapons were the only thing that could get the taciturn man to willingly speak up.

"No problem," Robin responded. "I'll get you a replacement." Lon'ue nodded in thanks and Robin ran a finger through the list again. "We have two mend staves and two physic staves as well. Lissa and Maribelle, each of you take one of those."

"One of the physic staves has been used a fair bit," Lissa piped up. Healing staves only had enough power for so many uses before their magic stone shattered, leaving them incapable of healing anyone.

"You take the good one, my dear," Maribelle replied before Robin could. "I have my horse, so I have less need of it."

Lissa gave her friend a calculating look before responding, "Alright. But you take the unused mend staff then."

Maribelle acquiesced and Robin continued, "Alright, that should be everyone." He frowned, looking his list over again. "I could have sworn someone had a good javelin. Where did it go?"

"I have it."

"Who said that?" Robin asked, looking up and scanning the room. Morgan looked around too—she had also missed who had spoken up.

"Here..over here!"

Morgan nearly jumped out of her seat. Not five feet from her stood a dark haired man in heavy plate armor, waving his hands.

"Oh! Kellam!" judging by her father's tone, he was just as surprised as she was.

There was a small clamor as Miriel suddenly pushed away a couple of books to grab a journal and start furiously scribbling in it. "Yes, how intriguing," she muttered.

"Uh, Miriel?" Robin asked unsure.

"Pay me no heed," she said. "I'm just documenting Kellam's propensity to suddenly vanish and reappear, so as to better understand the phenomenon."

"Appear?" Kellam asked as Miriel continued writing. "But...but I've been standing here the whole time! Literally from before Lord Chrom walked in!"

" _Fascinating..._ "

Robin cleared his throat. "R-right. Sorry I missed you there, Kellam. Err, you have the javelin?"

"Yes. I also have my iron lance and my armor is in good condition. Do you need me to carry anything else?" the soft-spoken knight replied.

"Well...actually, why don't you take the beast killer," the tactician replied. "If we encounter any cavalry, you'll be able to unhorse them with ease." He checked his list again. "Alright, now that should be everything," he said, nodding to Chrom.

The blue-haired lordling had sat down while his tactician went over weapons and equipment for the trip ahead. Now he stood again, though this time Robin did not return to his seat.

"Now on to our last bit of business before I dismiss everyone until bright and early tomorrow morning," Chrom said.

"I assume that's our newcomers?" Sully asked.

"Indeed," Chrom replied, giving a heavy sigh. "This is going to be a bit more complicated than the rest of the meeting."

"Pardon, but how is gaining two lovely ladies more complicated than planning for a most odious war?" Virion asked.

"Well..." Chrom started. "This is actually pretty hard to accept. Firstly, this is Lucina," he said, motioning towards his future daughter. "And that is Morgan," he added pointing to her. "Their stories are...frankly unbelievable. However, after some serious discussion and proof, I—we have come to believe them. Even Frederick; and that should tell you something." The silent knight shuffled uncomfortably but nodded.

Taking a breath, and obviously feeling half the fool despite his own assurances, Chrom continued, "These two young ladies have—separately—taken part in a magical ceremony created personally by Naga, which has allowed them to travel though time itself. They are from the future."

The room was silent for a moment. Morgan wasn't sure if people were staring more at her and Lucina or at Chrom. Then everyone started voicing their concerns for Chrom's sanity and skepticism all at once.

The leader of the Shepherds silenced them all by waving his arms. "Okay, guys. I know this is hard to believe. Vaike," he said, turning to his self-styled rival. "You remember that time I let you try using the Falchion?"

"Ha ha! Yeah, I tried to cut the table in half," the axe-man replied, grinning. "Didn't leave a mark. And I can split a table even with a blunt axe."

"Right," Chrom replied. "Only the direct line of the Exalt can use the Falchion. Even then, not all of us can use it. For example, I can but Lissa can't. But for certain, only descendents of the First Exalt can cut anything with it." Saying that, he unhooked the scabbard and held out the sheathed Falchion in front of himself, the hilt sticking out towards the side Lucina was on. He nodded towards her.

Taking the hint, Lucina grabbed the Falchion's hilt and drew it from the scabbard. She took a steadying breath. Then. in a sudden flash of movement, she stepped forward and slashed the nearest table. Everyone sitting near it jumped back a bit in surprise. Morgan instead noted how elegantly Lucina had moved. She was no slouch with a sword herself, but she could never compete with her mother.

After a second of nothing happening, the table split in half, falling in on itself. Even as it collapsed, Lucina was turning back to her father and offering him back his sword.

"And just to be sure," Chrom said, returning the blade to his hip, "let Vaike take a swing with your Falchion."

"Of course," Lucina replied, offering the weapon to Vaike.

"Err, okay," the burly young man replied, drawing the sword. He held it still for a moment as he and the other Shepherd examined the blade and how it was identical to Chrom's sword.

"Give Teach some room here!" he finally said, turning towards the next table. Everyone sitting around it instantly backed their chairs away—Miriel grabbing her books as she did so. "Hee-yah!" With a mighty two-handed swing, Vaike brought the blade down on the table. It hit with a loud bang and the table shook with the impact, but it did not split. It didn't even leave a mark. Realistically, had Vaike been using even a blunt metal bar, his swing should have broken the table. But it did not. "Huh," the tanned blonde mumbled, running his finger over the blade. Soon he was clearly pressing and sawing at his thumb, but the edge did not draw even a drop of blood. "Just like when I tried with Chrom's sword," he said, returning the weapon to Lucina.

Now everyone was watching wide-eyed; it didn't seem so much like a joke anymore. "Furthermore," Chrom went on, "she has the Brand of the Exalt in her eye—not some place you could paint or tattoo it." Tattooing the Brand was, of course, illegal. But it could be hard to prove. "Last night, she saved me from a hidden assassin and warned us of the attack on Emmeryn. She has saved me and both of my sisters." He turned to place a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "It's strange. It's weird. It's hard to believe. But these girls are actually from the future. So let me say it again. This is Lucina. And...apparently she is my daughter." Clearly nervous from the attention she was getting, Lucina gave a sheepish smile and a small wave. There was a lot of staring and hushed whispers at that declaration, but this time no one argued against it.

Fortunately for Chrom and Lucina—but less so for Morgan—Robin decided to help alleviate some of the attention they were getting. "And this is Morgan," he said, patting her on the head and drawing the attention of the others. "It, uh, it seems that she is _my_ daughter from the future." Morgan gave a smile and wave that she suspected were a lot like Lucina's.

After a few moments, murmurs began to work their way through the Shepherds, as they each began to react to this news. Sully was looking the newcomers up and down—she was definitely planning on challenging them each to a sword-fight. Stahl was curious, but took everything in stride. Vaike had a big, dumb grin on. If Chrom said they were from the future, he probably wouldn't question it too much. Miriel looked both eager and confused, like she couldn't decide what questions she wanted to ask first, but really wanted to start asking.

Ricken was questioning Maribelle, who was explaining things to him in greater detail. Gaius was watching with a strange fascination—probably beginning to wonder if he had gotten in over his head here. Neither Panne nor Lon'qu showed any outward signs of concern; though on closer inspection both were paying very close attention. Virion had gone silent and was stroking his chin, clearly lost in thought—to the point that he didn't notice Donnel asking him to explain what that all meant.

Sumia had gone ashen faced and was shaking slightly. It wasn't hard to guess what question she really, _really_ wanted to ask. She had barely even noticed Morgan; her eyes were darting back and forth between Chrom and Lucina. For her part, Lucina appeared to be exerting legendary restraint in not meeting her mother's eyes.

Morgan gave a small sigh. She decided to spare Lucina the obvious question that would soon arise. People seemed quite a bit more concerned with who Chrom would marry that with who her own father would. It was reasonable—Chrom was royalty and they had all known him much longer. Then again, it's not like Morgan wasn't royalty herself. _Ha! If they only knew!_

"Before any of you ask," she said, drawing attention back to herself. "No, we will not tell you who our mothers are." This announcement received a number of upset replies.

"There's actually not much they can tell us at the moment," he father added, backing her up. "Our finding out their identities was something of an accident. As such, they have yet to decide what they can and cannot safely tell us."

Morgan nodded and added a, "Sorry guys. But I'm sure we have some stories we can embarrass our fathers with."

After calling everyone back to order, the group explained to the Shepherds about how Lucina had come back in time to stop the revival of Grima. Explaining how Morgan came from that altered future was a little more complicated. Miriel asked a flurry of questions, which Morgan and Lucina tried to answer as best they could. Unfortunately, while Miriel found their answers interesting, they appeared to confuse some of the others. Eventually it seemed that everyone understood that Morgan was from a different future than Lucina—though some of them had just decided to accept it at face value and not question how it worked.

They took some time getting to know the past Shepherds and introducing themselves. Fortunately, Chrom had told Sully she'd have to wait for another time to get a spar in with the two girls from the future. Sumia had hung nervously at the back of the group, knowing she couldn't ask what she wanted and unsure of how to act. It was probably easier on Lucina that way—not having to interact with her mother while hiding that very fact. Still, Morgan had a feeling that Lucina would be happy for the chance to speak with her mother again, even if she couldn't show it. Morgan was rapidly gaining experience in that area herself.

It was pretty weird actually. This young Lucina was not, in fact, "Little Lucina" from her time. Granted, the younger Lucina was not little—she had been several years older than Morgan. This was the time-traveling Lucina who would (hopefully) eventually marry Robin and have a baby Morgan. This wasn't her friend and cousin—it was her mother. But she looked like her friend. And it was weird.

After some time, Chrom stood up and announced to the group that it was time to get back to work. He had meetings with the Exalt and her advisers, while Robin would be checking supplies for their trip. Everyone else was to spend some time training. Many of the Shepherds groaned at this, but they all eventually got moving.

The table Morgan and her father were sitting at had been fairly full. It had started with just a few people besides the pair—Virion, Donnel, and Sumia (who was too nervous to sit at the table with Chrom and Lucina). But once Morgan began telling embarrassing stories about her father, several more had drifted over (even including Lissa). As the others were leaving, Chrom and Lucina came over to them.

"It's about time we had our little talk," Lucina told them. Morgan agreed. They were both probably as tired of saying "I can't tell you" as the others were of hearing it.

Morgan and her father stood and voiced their agreement. "Yeah, we'll need to find a private spot," she said.

"You can use my room," her father offered. The silver haired young man gestured to the left door along the back wall. "All the way back on the left."

The girls thanked him, but before they could leave, Chrom stopped them. "I want you two to know something," he started, placing a hand on each of the time-travelers' shoulder. "Whatever you decide, we will trust your judgment and won't hold it against you." He looked them each in the eye and continued, "We are going to war and I know nothing is for certain there. People will die—maybe even people we care about. You could probably help with that using your knowledge, but that doesn't mean it would be the best thing to do. So whatever happens, I want you both to know we won't hold your decision against you."

The two girls exchanged somber glances, but it was Robin who spoke next: "You are dealing with the weight of consequences no one should ever bare. So we want you to know it's not your fault. We're talking about the fate of the world here. It may be too dangerous to save us from bad things to come in order to keep history on track. Or changing history for the better could result in something unexpected going wrong. Or you could change nothing and it all falls apart anyway. It's up to you how to proceed, but we won't blame you either way."

"That said," Chrom added with a little grin, "personally I would rather you stayed. But that's just my personal feelings."

"Thank you," Lucina replied and Morgan flashed an embarrassed smile.

And so, the two time-travelers found themselves walking through the Shepherd's garrison, heading for Robin's room. They were both familiar with the building—though the furniture and trappings were not as they remembered them. Familiar yet different—that seemed to sum up the past quite well.

Robin had a corner room, so it had two windows, which the time-travelers opened for light. It was mid-afternoon, so the sun provided more than enough light. Fortunately, the training Shepherds were on the far side of the building in the training yard. Lucina glanced out the windows anyway to make sure no one was trying to spy.

Morgan walked past her father's desk, running a hand over the piles of books and papers there. He hadn't been with the Shepherds long at this point, but he had clearly established himself as book-lover and study-holic. Morgan smiled faintly as she examined the items. A few of the books were ones she had read herself, albeit they had been a bit more worn out when she received them.

After a moment, Morgan turned to find Lucina had already pulled up two chairs from the table. She was waiting on the younger time-traveler with an understanding look while Morgan had been looking through her father's things. In a way, they were the only ones who understood each other—though there were some things Morgan couldn't share with this past version of her mother (such as being her mother). Shaking the thoughts from her head she walked over and took a seat opposite Lucina.

"So," she said.

"So," Lucina responded.

They was an awkward silence for a few moments before Lucina finally spoke again. "I'm afraid I am at a bit of a disadvantage here," she said. "The history I know was drastically changed last night. I'm not sure how much my knowledge of the future is still useful."

Morgan stroked her chin for a moment. "The specifics are different, but a lot of the main things are still the same. At least up through Walhart. After that things go differently with the battle against Grima and the Risen."

"Really?" Lucina asked in surprise. "I would have thought that Emmeryn being alive would change things more."

"Err, well it does," Morgan replied awkwardly. "But the biggest changes don't come until the Grimleal try to revive Grima. The war with Plegia goes differently, but the results are largely the same. I think the war with Walhart is pretty similar too. Other than you and your friends joining your parents during it."

"I see," Lucina responded. "There are some things you can't tell me, aren't there?"

Apparently, Morgan hadn't covered her hesitation quite as well as she had hoped. "Sorry," she replied sheepishly. No point denying it.

For her part, Lucina just nodded, accepting the situation for what it was. She could understand Morgan's reasoning better than anyone, even if she didn't know the _what?_ of it.

After a few more silent moments, Morgan spoke again, "I suppose we can divide the information we have into two main groups." Lucina raised an eyebrow and nodded for her to continue. "First we have the knowledge about your friends. Who marries who and has whom."

"Unfortunately, it would probably best to avoid telling them anything about that," Lucina replied. "It's safer with regards to us all still being born in this time."

"True," Morgan agreed. "But, with some of our friends it is going to be painfully obvious who at least one of their parents is. Like you for example. If everyone had know going in that you were the daughter of one of the Shepherds, it wouldn't have taken the Falchion or the Brand for them to finger your father. It's probably the same with me. And after that little display your mother made, I think they will figure her and Cynthia out pretty quickly. Then there is Yarne; he's obviously a Taguel. And I always knew Laurent was like him mother, but wow!"

At this point Lucina nodded. "Yes, and that's not even considering if Gerome has Minerva with him. And the moment Inigo opens his mouth..."

"Exactly," Morgan said. "And if we leave to find them, the Shepherds will probably end up meeting them earlier than they did in my timeline. I think it would be okay to give them some information—we just have to decide which parents to reveal. Like you mentioned, Gerome is obviously Cherche's son, but we won't tell them who his father is. Same with Yarne, obviously."

Lucina pondered for a moment. "Now that you mention it, most of my friends tend to take after their mother—or at least will obviously give their mother away."

"That's true."

"Except Inigo. He'll give away his father, much like you and I." Lucina thought for a moment before continuing, "Severa also won't be obvious, though she does have her mother's hair."

"Yeah," Morgan said a bit reluctantly. "But I feel she'll give it away all the same. She's got some mommy issues if you didn't notice."

"You're...not wrong," Lucina conceded. "What about Kjelle?"

"Her attitude," Morgan replied. "Even if she has her father's hair, no one would believe she isn't Sully's daughter. What about Brady?"

"As you said with Severa...mommy issues."

"Yeah, that's true. Hey, what about Owain? I mean him and his mother are both...colorful. But not in the same ways."

Lucina nodded. "Yes, but he does have the Mark of the Exalt on his arm. If that gets spotted, it will be obvious. Plus...I don't think he'd be able to keep it a secret. Not with his 'boiling blood' and all that."

Morgan chuckled at that. "Very true. And it might get Aunt Lissa off our backs." Morgan was glad she'd made a good excuse for calling her "Aunt Lissa." She hadn't lied, either. Technically. Lissa was actually her great aunt, not just her aunt. Of course, Morgan hadn't known all that growing up. "How about Noire?"

There was a moment of silence before both girls stated in unison, "Mommy issues."

"Alright," Morgan summarized, "So we should be safe to tell the female Shepherds about their children, except for Oliva when she joins."

"Which we may not be there for," Lucina added.

"Right. So all the women plus Virion."

"We should only give them basic information, just to be safe," Lucina commented.

"And we shouldn't say anything unless they ask," Morgan said. "I'm sure Lissa will. I'm not sure who else will have the courage to." Lucina nodded in agreement. Morgan went on, "Well, with that decided, on to second point of information."

"Events in the coming wars," Lucina stated more than guessed.

Morgan nodded. "Right. Unlike you, I know exactly what's coming. Before traveling back here you guys all drilled information into my head. As you and your friends found out, time travel can be a bit...hit or miss. So everyone wanted to make sure I had a good grasp of the past. Though you _did_ leave out losing your mask."

"If you say so," Lucina replied, rolling her eyes. Clearly she was no longer upset over the whole incident. Morgan could understand—for Lucina it had probably all been made worth it when her father had first hugged her.

Long-haired princess went on, "You say that in your future, Father and the rest are able to defeat Grima, right?" Morgan nodded and she paused for a moment. "Were...were my friends and I all born in your future."

"Yes," Morgan replied. "Actually, a few of them even have siblings who weren't born in your time."

Lucina's eyes widened at that. "Truly? That's...wow. I'd never considered that possibility."

"That's what happens when Grima doesn't destroy the world while you're little."

"I see," Lucina said. "Then that begs the question...is there anything we can change with your knowledge that would be worth risking that future for?"

Morgan was silent for a moment. "...no," she finally said, somberly. In less than a month, Chrom and Lissa would watch their sister fall to her death. But the Fire Emblem would be safe, and that was what mattered. Even if her grandfather never forgave her for it. For all their talk of not holding it against her, she had a feeling that Chrom may not be able to truly hold to that, despite his best intentions.

Lucina watched Morgan with a frown. It was plainly obvious that the other time-traveler was choosing not to interfere with something she wished she could. It was a conundrum she could relate to. Finally, she reached out and laid a hand on Morgan's shoulder. "It's alright," she said. "We know our parents can make it through this. They'll fight their own battles and forge bonds with their comrades in war. Then we'll be able to join them to face the future toge—what?"

Lucina had cut off when Morgan suddenly grasped her forearms. Her eyes were unfocused and darting about. Inside, Morgan's mind was racing. "That's right," she muttered. "They're forging bonds..." The young tactician gazed off to the side, shifting slightly as if she was going to walk away. Then, suddenly, she turned back towards Lucina. Her face instantly cleared and her eyes focused into a hard expression.

"We're staying," she announced.

" _What?!_ " Lucina said in confusion. "I thought we were agreed it was too risky?"

"No no," Morgan replied. "It would be too dangerous for us to leave. If we do we could ruin _everything!_ "

"I don't follow you," the elder time-traveler said.

"It's what you said," Morgan told her. "It's their bonds! If we leave now we could do irreparable harm to them."

Lucina shook her head. "I still don't understand."

Morgan sat down on the bed, pulling Lucina down to sit next to her. "Look," she explained. "It's like this. For all your meddling with time, there were only two really, _really_ important things that changed in the past. The first was protecting the Fire Emblem last night. That messes up the Grimleal's plans pretty badly."

Lucina nodded. "Yes. And the second was saving the Exalt?"

"No. That doesn't matter at all," Morgan replied, much to Lucina's surprise. "Sure, it changes some things, but not things related to Grima and the end of the world. No..." she waved a finger in Lucina's face as if it illustrated her point. "The second big change was that the Shepherds formed much closer, tighter bonds with each other in the altered future."

"How does that—" Lucina began to ask, but Morgan cut her off.

"Your father says it all the time; his strength comes from the bonds he has with his friends and companions. It's more true than you realize. At some point in the future, each of our fathers will, separately, be tested. Not physically; but mentally, emotionally...spiritually. The difference between your time and mine is that in mine, the strength of their bonds was enough to pull them through. These bonds are what get them through a crucial turning point in battling Grima. And if we leave now, we will most likely damage those bonds."

Lucina frowned and crossed her arms. "First," she said, "how do you mean that their bonds were stronger? Their bonds were pretty darn strong in my time."

"I don't doubt it," Morgan replied. "But there were several factors that contributed to them forming even stronger ones in my time. Firstly, Cordelia and Thraja ended up joining the group earlier in my time than in yours. Next, there was all of you. You kids from the future helped to draw the Shepherds even closer together. Thirdly...Lucina, were you surprised to hear that my father has no memories of his youth?"

Lucina blinked at that. "Now that you mention it," she said. "I didn't know he had amnesia. I was a bit surprised when Father mentioned it. No one had ever spoken of it in my time."

"That's because he didn't have amnesia in your timeline," Morgan explained. "That was something caused by you guys traveling back in time." She held up a hand to cut her mother off. "I can't explain how that works. Not now. Not even to you. But it is different—and it made a difference. Father...he did not have a pleasant youth. Chrom was probably the first real friend he had, even with his memories. You see, because of his younger days and his family, he had some trust issues and had trouble believing he deserved to get close to people or open up to them. He was good friends with Chrom, even in your time, but he was more aloof. He could never get that close."

Morgan gave a sad, ironic chuckle. "Honestly, losing his memory was the best thing that could happen to him. Freed of his burdens, he was able to embrace Chrom and the Shepherds with open arms and form closer bonds than he could in your time. This is especially important—our father's fates are connected. They will either stand or fall together."

Lucina nodded slowly. "I think I get what you mean," she finally said. "But, what does that have to do with us damaging their bonds."

Morgan took a deep breath before starting again. "I don't doubt that they were serious about not blaming us whatever choice we made. I also don't believe they can truly keep that promise. Especially not Chrom."

"Why do you say that?" Lucina asked, frowning. Her father was not a petty man, after all.

Morgan looked her dead in the eyes. "In less than a month, he and Lissa will watch Emmeryn die in front of them. And he'll know I could have stopped it."

Lucina recoiled from her. "But—what?!"

Morgan nodded. "Gangrell will overrun the border and march straight onto Ylisstol shortly after the Exalt returns, having changed her mind about going to the eastern palace. He'll capture her and drag her back to Plegia. Because she had given Chrom the Fire Emblem, Gangrell will hold her hostage until Chrom arrives. He'll demand the Fire Emblem and Emmeryn will chose to kill herself to prevent Chrom from giving in to his demands."

"That's...is that truly...?" Lucina stuttered, mortified by this new revelation.

Morgan just went on, "Regardless of his intentions, I can't imagine that Chrom won't resent me; at least on some level. He won't want or mean to, but I could hardly blame him for it. But really, that's not the problem. If it's necessary, I can live with Chrom hating me in order to save the world." She glanced at Lucina's face. "Not the he would necessarily _hate_ me!" she added quickly. Her mother had looked like she wanted to argue that point. "But he'll most certainly resent me, even on a subconscious level. And I don't think he'd be able to ever truly trust me after that."

"I...you may have a point," Lucina finally conceded. Chrom would know rationally that it wasn't Morgan's fault, but believing it in your heart could be another matter entirely. If someone intentionally let Cynthia die "for the good of the world," she might understand and accept that it was necessary. But truly forgiving and accepting that person would be _very_ hard.

Morgan gave a somber nod. "But the real problem isn't what Chrom feels towards me. Instead, what if those feelings create a rift between him and my father? Think about it; if my father resented you, how would that effect his relationship with Chrom? And I am really not exaggerating: the course of history rests upon the two of them together. If I become a rift between them...then we are back on the path to your future all over again. Only with even less hope this time."

Lucina was silent for a minute while she pondered Morgan's words. She knew that hope rested on her father—she'd known that for ages. It was why she had traveled to the past after all. But Morgan could only hope she would come to see that it wasn't _just_ Chrom. He had to be supported by his bonds—especially those with her own father. And Robin would need those same bonds to resist Validar's attempts to control him and Grima's attempts to possess him. And that wasn't even accounting for Chrom needing his bonds to endure the Awakening ceremony.

In the end, Chrom had been right; it was their invisible bonds that had let them change fate and alter their destinies. Morgan had only come back in time to ensure they were able to enjoy their victory for real.

Eventually, Lucina looked back at her. "Do you really believe that?" she asked. "That maintaining the bonds between our fathers is more important than keeping history on track? That it is worth risking events changing in ways we can't predict?"

Morgan looked her in the eye. She could clearly see the Mark of the Exalt in her mother's left eye. Her own back started to itch—right between her shoulder blades. Right where her own Mark was hidden. "Yes," she said seriously. And she meant it. "Keeping the future 'on track' isn't the important thing. Slaying Grima is. And what is most important for that is the bond between our fathers and the other Shepherds." She smiled a bit there and opened her hand towards Lucina. "You reminded me of that. I was so preoccupied with keeping history the same that I almost missed the little subtle change that could have ruined everything." At this, Morgan grinned broadly and ran a hand through the back of her hair. "I guess I really have a ways to go before I can match my father in strategy and planning!" she said.

A small smile slowly spread across Lucina's face. She clasped Morgan's outstretched hand. "Alright," she said. "I believe you. We shall throw caution to the wind and trust in the bonds of our fathers." Truth be told, both girls had wanted to stay. They weren't willing to do so for their own sakes, but that didn't mean they couldn't be happy when it turned out they needed to anyway.

"Okay," Morgan said. "First, we're going to need to go get my father. We have to totally re-plan this war and we don't have a lot of time. He really is better than me at this stuff."

Lucina nodded as the girls got to their feet. "Should we get my father as well?" she asked.

Morgan thought for a moment. "No," she said at last. "We'll fill him in once we have things planned out. For now, he should attend to his business as a lord without knowing things are going to change. It's going to be important, I think, that no one knows things are changing. It'll give us a chance to turn Gangrel's plan against him."

"That makes sense," Lucina agreed. "Very well, let us go find Robin and work on this plan."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

There are probably more typing and spelling mistakes I missed in this chapter. I wanted to try and get it out sooner than later, but I'm pretty bust with real life right now. As such, I didn't go over as many times proofing it as I did the first chapter. Sorry if it's less polished. Hopefully, I will have a bit more time to spend editing in a month or so.

Anyway, after this chapter things are going to start changing. Morgan and Lucina have made their decision and things are going to start diverging—even as they try to keep them similar. That's the other reason I wanted to get this chapter out; you could kind of say the first two chapters are the introduction.

I hope you liked it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Fire Emblem: Awakening— _A Future Intervention_**

 **Chapter Three**

Chrom blinked several times and gave his head a light shake to chase away the tiredness that was beginning to set in. He had been late in getting to bed that night, thanks to all the business that needed attending to in preparation for their trip on the morrow. He had only slept for an hour or so when a knock on his door had interrupted his rest.

The blue-haired lord glanced around at the people to either side of him. Aside from Frederick, who dutifully trod on behind his lord, the others hadn't even gone to bed. Chrom wasn't sure if that meant they were more or less tired than he was, having been so suddenly awakened.

To Chrom's left was Robin, who was stifling a yawn. Beside him was a bleary-eyed Morgan. To Chrom's right was Lucina, who appeared the least sleepy of the group—though Chrom had a feeling she was just hiding it better. The group had practically dragged him from his bed to explain the situation to him. Frederick was there because they had needed him to reach Chrom's room—none of the others actually had the authority to enter the private residential area he and Lissa had their rooms in, especially late at night.

On the whole, Chrom was quite pleased that Lucina and Morgan had decided to stay and help. Offering their knowledge of the future was an unexpected bonus. Though finding out that Emmeryn was fated to die despite thwarting the assassination attempt had been sobering. The girls had, apparently, roped Robin into helping them with their plans for altering history. They had filled Chrom in the most basic points of their new plan—enough to convince him they needed to see the Exalt immediately.

It was well after midnight as the group of five made their way through darkened halls, lit only by the occasional candle, sconce, or lamp. The halls were largely deserted at that hour, and the group could easily hear their own footfalls.

Rounding a final corner, Chrom's group came to a hallway with an ornate double door halfway down on their right. Two female guards with spears stood, one on either side of the door. The hall was well lit, so no one could try and sneak up on it. As the group approached, the guards shifted in surprise. "Highness?" one of them asked as they approached.

"We need to see the Exalt," Chrom told the guards, coming to a stop before the door. "It's important."

The guards exchanged glances. No one with any sense would demand to see the Exalt at such an hour. "The Exalt is currently sleeping," one of the guards replied.

Before Chrom could answer a voice called out, "What is going on here?" Phila had emerged from a smaller door to the side. As the Exalt's lead guard, she had a room right next to her lady's. Someone had likely tipped her off that Chrom and his group were approaching. Still, she had obviously already gone to bed. Her pale blue hair was undone and hanging down her back. She wore a modest nightgown—though she had strapped a leather belt around her waist, from which a sword hung.

"Sorry Phila," Chrom said. "We need to see Emmeryn. Now. It's very important."

"She's-" the pegasus knight began.

"Asleep," Chrom interrupted. "Naturally. Phila, you know I wouldn't want to wake her up if it wasn't _that_ important."

Phila eyed the prince for a moment, before looking over the group with him. She had, of course, been present when Chrom had introduced Lucina to Emmeryn. The fact that Emm had come to believe them had seemed to be enough for her—though, like Frederick, her job was to worry over her liege. She had also met Robin previously, and could likely guess who Morgan was, having heard about her along with Lucina.

Finally, after a several moments, Phila took a deep breath and released something between a sigh and a groan. "Wait here." she told them before turning to the other guards. "I'm entering," she said. They, of course, made no move to stop her.

The group of Shepherds and time-travelers waited there for several minutes. Obviously, Phila was awakening Emmeryn and helping her make herself presentable—or at least decent. It probably wouldn't have taken as long if it was just Chrom, but with people who were basically strangers to the Exalt, they likely took a little extra time getting ready.

Eventually Phila emerged from the room and told them, "You may enter." Unsurprisingly, she followed the group in.

The Exalt's quarters consisted of several rooms, the first of which was a sitting room with a table, matching chairs, several larger cushioned chairs, an in table, and a couch. Doors led off the other private rooms. Chrom had been there enough times to know his way around, but he hadn't really spent a lot of time there since he was younger—back when he and Lissa were constantly vying for Emm's attention.

Emmeryn sat in one of the larger chairs, holding a teacup and saucer. She wore a high-quality nightgown with an embroidered cloak over it. Her hair was undone and hung down her back and over her shoulders. "Good evening," she greeted her brother and his friends. "Or, I suppose it is morning now. Phila made some tea if any of you are interested." She gestured over to the table where the teapot sat.

"Sorry to-" Chrom started to apologize before her noticed his sister's complexion and tired eyes. Instead he said, "You haven't slept at all, have you Emm?"

Emmeryn gave a small smile. "And here I thought I was the elder sibling who had to worry about her little brother." Chrom gave her a flat stare and she sighed. "We are on the verge of a war that I have tried for years to prevent, Chrom. I find sleep...elusive."

"I know, Emm," the prince replied. "But it's not your fault. No one could stop Gangrel from having his war. And unfortunately, I don't think any of us are getting any sleep tonight. You remember Lucina?" He motioned towards his future daughter.

"Of course," the Exalt replied. "And this is you new friend Robin. And, I assume that this young lady is Morgan?"

"Nice to meet you!" Morgan replied with a smile. Emmeryn returned the smile, though Phila frowned at the informal introduction.

"The girls here spent a good deal of time this afternoon discussing whether or not they should stay here with us or leave to avoid changing history," Chrom explained. "And they have decided not only to stay, but to offer their knowledge of the future to help us."

"Oh?" Emmeryn tilted her head slightly and asked, "Are you sure that is wise?"

"We discussed it for a while," Morgan spoke up. "And I can assure you, we made our decision with the goal of defeating Grima as our top priority."

"We didn't want to mess with history, if we could avoid it," Lucina added. "But we realized that, knowing what we know, it would be more dangerous to just leave now."

"So we decided to stop tiptoeing around and take a more proactive approach," Morgan concluded.

"That is all well and good," Phila cut in. "But couldn't it have waited until morning?"

"Unfortunately, no." This time is was Robin who spoke. The silver-haired tactician made and apologetic gesture. "We've spent the past evening using their knowledge to essentially re-plan the war with Plegia. Time is of the essence—more so than we realized. The Exalt is going to need to send out special order dispatches before dawn arrives."

"What do you mean?" Emmeryn asked. "We are already planning to move as quickly as possible. Orders have already been sent out the the armies of the Halidom."

"You're already three steps behind," Morgan answered for her father. "Gangrel was already prepared for war. He'll overrun the border well before you reach the eastern palace. You really don't understand." She stepped closer to the Exalt, her expression now more serious than any Chrom had seen her make. Phila actually moved to stop her, but Emmeryn waved her down.

"What do you mean?" the Exalt asked evenly.

"Gangrel is going to invade with a single-minded ferocity. He wants your head and he wants the Fire Emblem. His army won't follow any traditional military tactics. He won't worry about taking and holding ground. He's not concerned about supply lines. He doesn't care about defeating every last part of your army. He will rush straight through Ylisse to sack Ylisstol and capture you. He's banking everything on attacking before you can prepare for it. And he'll succeed. He's ready. You're not."

For the first time, Chrom could appreciate Morgan's serious side. She tended to act a little silly, perhaps even goofy. But now she was in serious tactician mode. Robin had done the same thing twice since Chrom had met him—first when they had initially encountered the Risen and secondly two nights ago when the assassins had attacked. Though Robin tended to be a bit more serious normally, the similarity was startling.

Morgan continued, "Don't get me wrong, Chrom will still win the war for Ylisse. But by that time, Ylisstol will be sacked, numerous villages will be burned to the ground, the border guards will be decimated, the pegasus knights will be exterminated, and the Exalt will be murdered. Not exactly a victory to celebrate."

Emmeryn locked gazes with Morgan for several silent moments, before finally asking, "Then what do you propose we do?"

"First thing's first," Robin replied, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder. She backed off from the Exalt—the cold steel leaving her eyes and her face softening. He continued, "We are going to spend the next few hours preparing emergency dispatch orders for the guards. We need them to immediately start evacuating the towns and villages that will be in Plegia's invasion path. It's too late to start gathering to defend the border. Fortunately, as Gangrel isn't interested in holding land, he won't attack any fortified positions if he can avoid it. The border guards need to fight a defensive battle, retreating to fortified positions with the civilians."

He walked over to the table and set down several books and reams of paper—obviously notes he had made while planning. Then he went on, "We need to make sure the soldiers know to fight while retreating. They are only to delay the enemy, not attempt to stop them. They won't stand a chance in open battle against Plegia's superior numbers. We want as many Ylissean soldiers to make it to the capital as possible. We can't stop them in the field, but we may be able to hold the walls of the city...at least for a while."

"For a while?" Phila asked, her face having gone pale during Morgan's little outburst. "What good will that do?"

"That's where the next part of our plan comes in," Morgan told them. "The first part of which also involves Lady Emmeryn."

"How so?" the Exalt asked.

Morgan turned back to her, this time grinning. "Well, first thing in the morning here, you are going to have a big, loud fight with Lissa!"

* * *

Sumia took a steadying sip of hot tea. She was anxious, of course. The Shepherds were preparing to set off for war and who knew when it would end? Still it was just mild butterflies in her stomach—nothing so serious as the jitters before an actual battle.

The newly minted pegasus knight had all of her travel preparations complete. A backpack sat on the floor by her feet, resting against a table leg. It wasn't overly large, but then most of her things were already packed in her saddle bags. Sumia had gotten up well before first light to tend to her pegasus before leaving. She'd made sure she had plenty of time to take care of Belfire that morning. Of course it wasn't like she's been so distracted that she'd forgotten to tend to the poor creature the day before or anything...

Regardless, Sumia was, like most of the Shepherds, ready to leave at any moment. Her pegasus was saddled and ready in the stable and her gear was all stowed and ready. Now if only she could avoid falling on her face when Chrom showed up.

The common area of the Shepherds' garrison was fairly crowded. The captain had told them to be ready at first light, and that had arrived a short time ago. It would undoubtedly take some time to actually leave, but everyone was ready.

Sumia had encountered Sully and Stahl early on out in the stable. They also had mounts to get ready for their trip. That was, perhaps, the down side to fighting mounted—all the time needed to maintain and prepare your partner. Still, Sumia was just overjoyed to finally have a pegasus of her own.

Numerous other Shepherds sat around, waiting for the captain to come and give them their marching orders. Miriel was sitting nearby, reading a book she had retrieved from the pack at her feet. Lon'qu was sitting cross-legged in the far corner. He had his pack and sword beside him and was either meditating or napping—it was hard to tell. Ricken had his pack opened on one of the tables, rummaging around and reorganizing his tomes and belongings. Virion had a very neat and orderly pack hanging from his chair, where he sat pleasantly sipping tea as well. Maribelle had arrived from her estate in town about an hour before sunrise and had taken it upon herself to make tea for anyone who wanted some. Though she seemed to regret the offer when she saw how much sugar Gaius had put in his. Or it might have just been that she didn't like the thief at all. It was hard to tell.

Sumia nursed her own tea as she contemplated the current situation. So far, no one had heard whether Chrom's and Robin's daughters would be joining them in their mission. They had been shut away since their initial introductions the day before. That was a whole can of worms that Sumia couldn't help but ponder. Lucina resembled Chrom strongly. Her appearance didn't really give away any clues as to who her mother could be. The animal-eared Panne was about the only woman who could truly be ruled out. Of course, Sumia had her hopes, but she was well aware of just how...overreaching those hopes were.

It didn't help that the pegasus knight had been too nervous to even speak with the time-displaced princess the day before. And Lucina hadn't paid any particular mind to her during their brief meeting—though she hadn't seemed to pay particular mind to anyone except Chrom. Of course, there was no reason why the prince's future wife had to be one of the Shepherds; there was a whole Halidom of eligible young ladies who would love to catch his eye. Still, Sumia thought that marrying a comrade in arms rather than some random noble lady sounded more like something the captain would do.

Pulling Sumia from her musings, the front door opened with a creak. Vaike, Donnel, and Panne—who had all been waiting outside—entered, followed by Robin and Morgan. Clearly the tacticians had told the others to come inside.

"Hey guys! We're gonna have a meeting. Ol' Chrom should be here shortly!" for some reason, Vaike felt like he should make the announcement.

Robin, who had likely been about to say something similar added, "Is everyone here?"

"Sully and Stahl are still in the stable," Sumia answered, a little happy to have something to contribute.

Robin nodded. "They're coming. Anyone else? Err, what about Kellam?"

"I'm over here!" came a reply from behind Sumia. Apparently she had missed one of the occupants of the room, as usual.

Robin nodded as the door opened again and Sully and Stahl entered...followed by Lucina. It appeared that the time-traveler had gone to the stable to collect the cavaliers.

Gathering up all her courage, Sumia finally asked, "What about the captain?"

Robin and the two time-travelers exchanged a rather haggard look. "He'll...be here in a moment," the tactician finally said.

"I assume me sweet Lissa is with him? And Frederick too," Maribelle asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

"...yeah," Robin muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "They'll all be here in a moment."

Morgan chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "If you listen closely, you'll hear them coming," she added.

Everyone was a little confused by that, until Panne said with a huff, "You're right. I can hear them. You man-spawn are so loud."

At that everyone else got quiet and tried to listen. Soon enough, Sumia could here something—not footsteps or the like, but voices. Raised voices. One shrill voice in particular. As the sound drew nearer it became clear that it was the sound of a female yelling. The shepherds listened in confusion as the noise got louder and louder.

The actual words were still indistinct, until Robin finally opened the door with a groan and held it open: "How dare you even consider it! I will not be treated like a child! How could you even-what gives you the right?! Let me go this instant! I want to see Emm again! I am not some little doll you can just-!"

Lissa's shouts rolled over the Shepherds like a thunderstorm. Most of them flinched away, and Maribelle turned particularly pale.

Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa all entered the barracks at once. They had to—Chrom and Frederick each had a hold of one of Lissa's arms, literally lifting her off the ground and dragging her kicking and screaming between them. The princess was backwards to the two of them and facing away from the rest of the crowd, or else her yells would likely have been even louder. The two men looked like they had walked through a tornado.

Once Robin shut the door behind them, the two men set Lissa back down on her feet. No longer kicking she started pulling at her arms as if trying to free herself. She continued to yell until Chrom finally clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Okay, Lissa, stop! Right now," he told her. She struggled but he held firm and got right in her face. "Listen! We are going to discuss the plan with everyone right now. If, after that, you still have any problems with it, _then_ you can have your say, I promise. Deal?"

Finally, Lissa relented and stopped fighting. Chrom and Frederick released her and she stood a few feet apart from them, arms folded, shoulders hunched, and her best glare plastered on her face.

The Shepherds were all wide-eyed and stunned. Lissa could complain with the best, but Sumia had never seen her so furious. Maribelle was at her side in an instant, fussing over her, though Lissa seemed to pay no mind. Sumia couldn't help but think the young noble tea-enthusiast looked very much ready to punch a certain prince in the face.

Chrom gave a groan, rubbing his stiffened neck muscles. "Alright," he finally said, drawing the Shepherds attention back to him. "So, we are leaving this morning, but we are having a bit of a change of plans. Earlier, Emmeryn decided that, in order to protect the bloodline of the Exalt in this coming war, she would order Lissa to go into hiding somewhere safe during the conflict."

You could practically hear the Shepherds cringing at this news. Now everyone knew why Lissa was so irate. Treating her like she was fragile was one of her biggest peeves.

Chrom went on, "She is to leave today, at the same time we leave with Emmeryn and the pegasus knights. A few soldiers will go with her to ensure her safety. In particular, Frederick, Sully, Stahl, Sumia, Lucina, and Robin will all be going with her."

Mutteres broke out across the room. Sumia's heart sank a bit. So she wouldn't be fighting alongside Chrom in the war?

"Pardon me, milord."

The one to finally speak up was not who anyone expected. "Yes, Virion?" Chrom asked.

The prim and proper gentleman stood. "Regardless of anyone's feelings on the subject, I can, at least... _understand_ why the Exalt would wish protect her sister. But be that as it may, I cannot understand why you would send our main strategist off with her. Not to mention, you are sending your future daughter, but not Robin's."

Muttering again broke out, but this time it was more curious. Even Lissa had the anger on her face partially supplanted by confusion. It also dawned on Sumia that, while she wasn't with Chrom, she _would_ be with his daughter.

"That's a good point, Virion," Robin responded, standing next to Chrom. "And the reason for that is because everything Chrom just told you is a lie."

At this point, even Lissa just gave them a dumbfounded look and said flatly, "What?"

Robin held up a hand to keep the crowd quite and continued, "Yesterday, Morgan and Lucina decided that, rather than leaving, they would stay and use their knowledge of the future to help us. Part of that knowledge was the information that King Gangrel is far more ready for war than we are, and by the time we get back from Regna Ferox with reinforcements Ylisstol will have already been sacked and the Exalt captured."

There was a sharp intake of breath across the room at that information. Lissa had gone utterly pale and all traces of defiance had left her face.

"So naturally," Chrom picked up, "we're going to do something different. Now, to avoid letting the enemy know that we are changing plans, we are going to play at doing as we had initially intended. Morgan has informed us that our plans are compromised—we are likely to be ambush on our way to the eastern palace, though it's nothing we can't handle."

"The trick," Robin said, taking over again, "is to change things without making it obvious. Not taking the Exalt to the eastern palace, or sending the Shepherds straight to Ferox—those would be too obvious. But sending the little princess off to safety with a few guards, that's not something Plegia will be overly concerned about. At worst, we may have to fend off a small ambush seeking to capture her. But no one would consider it a major part of Ylissean strategy."

"And thanks to Lissa, the entire castle knows that's what's happening. And once their ears stop ringing, that news will spread," Chrom said. "Most likely the Plegians will dismiss her as inconsequential. She's never taken an active role in any sort of government or military affairs."

"Wait," Lissa said. "So...you're not sending me into hiding?"

"Our group will be taking horses and riding hard straight for Ferox," Robin answered. "They may be expecting Chrom as the ambassador, but you _are_ still royalty yourself. Plus Khan Flavia knows me as Chrom's strategist, so we should make for a respectable delegation."

"Is that why all the cavalry are on your team?" Sully asked. She had been clearly upset at being left out of the war at first.

Robin nodded. "Exactly. We need to ride long and hard, so we're only taking the mounted Shepherds. Unfortunately, Maribelle has to stay with Chrom's group, as she's the only healer we have aside from Lissa. Fortunately, Lissa, Lucina, and myself all know how to ride, even if we don't normally do so in combat. Granted, I only found out I know how to ride just this morning..."

"Meanwhile," Chrom said. "The rest of us will be accompanying Emm to the eastern palace. Except that we don't actually intend to make it there. According to Morgan, we would receive news of the Plegian invasion part-way there and Emm would insist on returning to the capital." He gave a disgruntled grimace at that. "Unfortunately, I can definitely see my sister making an unreasonable decision like that."

"As such," Morgan spoke up for the first time, "our group is only going to keep up appearances. Once we fend off the Plegian ambush, the Exalt will insist on returning to Ylisstol and make a scene of sending Chrom off to Ferox. Of course, Father and Lissa will actually already be there. So instead, we will be returning to Ylisstol. Though not immediately. We'll be gathering volunteers from the countryside first to help bolster the city's defense. That and we don't want anyone realizing Chrom is there until the siege starts."

"After that, the plan is simple," Chrom concluded. "Our team will help defend the capital while Robin and Lissa bring the Feroxi reinforcements as quickly as possible."

"And King Gangrel finds himself caught between a walled city he can't break as easily as he'd hoped and a relieving army bearing down on him. All without any real supply lines to support his army," Robin added.

The group spent a while longer explaining the plan to the Shepherds in greater detail, and outlining their individual roles. Lissa was clearly torn between relief at not being sent away, pride in being given an important role, anger at being tricked, and mortification at how she had last spoken to her sister. Unfortunately, Chrom explained that she would have to wait until her group returned with reinforcements to apologize in person.

Sumia was a little nervous at being part of a very small group with such an important role to play. Still, she did feel a bit of pride in it—even if she was only included because she rode a pegasus. And perhaps she would be able to use this chance to get close to Chrom's daughter. Maybe she could find out something of value there.

* * *

Robin tugged absently at the armored breastplate he was wearing. Chrom had asked Sully to procure a set of basic cavalier armor for both himself and Lucina for their trip. The less Lissa's "bodyguards" stood out, the better. Robin's armor was dark gray, with an almost purple sheen to it, while Lucina had received a blue set in the female style; much like Sully's.

Sumia, Frederick, Sully, and Stahl all waited nearby with their mounts. Lucina and Lissa were still getting dressed and ready—as they, like Robin, would be traveling in a different manner and dress than they usually did. Their horses stood close at hand as well, curtsey of Frederick. Robin had been lucky in that Stahl had a spare set of armor in good condition for him to borrow. Sully's spare set had been a bit too beaten up for Lucina to use, so it had taken her longer to get one. Hence Robin was ready before the two princesses.

He'd also been given a bronze lance to use. The tactician had quickly discovered that, while he could ride just fine and swing a sword on horseback without issue, using a tome on a moving horse was much harder. Fortunately, after picking up a lance, Robin had discovered he knew the basics on how to use it. It was just like when he had first woken up. It had taken him a second to recall how to use his sword and tome, but after a moment it was easy to tell he had trained with those weapons before and knew them by heart. His skill with the lance had not been as high, however, so he had only taken a cheap bronze one. Not the best weapon in a prolonged fight, but he could use it to charge down a foe while mounted. While the cheap lance might not survive many cavalry charges, it was still useful to have available. A bronze lance had also been set aside for Lucina, as she had some basic training with them, though she preferred her prized blade.

Chrom and the rest of the Shepherds had left already. Everyone had departed this morning as per the original plan. In order to avoid causing a fuss they had divided up the leaving parties. Two different groups of pegasus knights had left, supposedly on different missions; one going south and one north. Additionally, several small convoys were sent out in all directions, carrying supplies and a few troops to reinforce various castles and fortresses across the land. Of course, the convoy going east had actually contained the Exalt and her small entourage. Both groups of pegasus knights would loop back around to meet up with them once they were away from the city and surrounding villages. Chrom's group had filed out of the city individually, disguised as civilians and caravan guards, with the city guards claiming they had left early in the morning on a mission.

This was all just pretense. They wanted to make sure the Shepherds acted the way they did in Morgan's future in hopes that it would insure Plegia acted the same as well. Neither Chrom nor Emmeryn had been particularly pleased with wasting so much time on a rouse, but they had both been convinced.

When the Shepherds had parted ways, Chrom had asked Robin to be sure and look after both his sister and his daughter. The tactician had once again been struck by how fortunate he was to have a friend who would trust him so much. However, not wanting to get too mushy, Robin had then asked Morgan to look after Chrom, implying that the prince needed constant supervision to avoid getting into trouble. His friend had given him a sarcastic look while a few Shepherds chuckled. Then Fredrick had chimed in and, completely serious, had agreed with Robin. Everyone had a good laugh at Chrom's expense then (even Chrom himself). Though Frederick hadn't known what was so funny. Soon after, the bulk of the Shepherds had left.

Finally, a voice announced the arrival of the last two members of the Ferox-bound team: "We're ready! Sorry we took so long!" Lissa sounded far more jovial that she had when she had been dragged into the Shepherds' garrison earlier. As a matter of fact, she was almost gleeful as she and Lucina approached the others.

Lissa had changed into a riding outfit, not unlike the one Maribelle usually wore. She had baggy pants and boots rather than her normal skirt. The top blouse and corset were similar to what she normally wore, but she also had a short shoulder-cloak that was supposedly to help protect her from dust while riding. For some reason, the young princess was practically giggling.

Lucina was dressed in blue armor, much like Sully's. The female armor had a few more curves to better fit a woman more comfortably, but it was a fairly small difference. It was nothing like the more form-fitting breastplates worn by pegasus knights and some female mercenaries. Lucina still had Falchion at her hip and on her head was...

"Err, w-what's that?" Robin asked as they got closer. The remaining Shepherds crowded in a bit to get a look.

"Isn't it cute?" Lucina asked, smiling broadly, patting the thing on her head with one hand. "I thought my tiara would stick out a bit too much."

Robin blinked, unsure how to respond. The time-traveler's smile was radiant. In fact, it was perhaps the most unguarded expression he had seen her make yet. But the thing on her head...was _not_ cute. Suddenly, the tactician had a good idea why Lissa was struggling not to laugh.

"Err, where did you get that?" Frederick finally asked. Even he was grimacing slightly, though Lucina failed to notice.

"I got it before I came back in time," the blue-haired girl replied happily. "I have a bunch. They were all on sale for some reason."

"I can't imagine why," Stahl muttered sarcastically. It was too quiet for Lucina to hear, but Robin was closer to him than the princess was. He silently agreed.

The... _cap_ , for lack of a better word, that Lucina wore was brown in color. It was extremely fuzzy. It had three black buttons sewed to it in an upside-down triangle. Beneath them were several lines of heavy black stitching. Circular brown lumps were also sewed to the sides. It took several seconds to realize that it was supposed to be a face, and then several more to figure out that it was likely intended to resemble a bear. The poor, lopsided stitching, choice of low quality materials, and overly dark shade of brown made the whole thing quite ugly. In his mind, Robin could imagine how a cap resembling a nice teddy bear might be cute for a child. But this was more like a teddy bear from hell.

Lissa and Lucina were both grinning widely, though for different reasons. The blonde princess clearly found her niece's fashion sense hilarious. Everyone else felt a bit more awkward. They exchanged glances.

Finally, it was Sumia who spoke up. "Well, I haven't seen anything like it in this time," she said carefully. "I'm afraid it might stick out just as badly as your tiara."

"Ah." Lucina frowned and thought seriously for a moment. "I hadn't considered that."

"I'm not sure it would be considered appropriate wear for a cavalier, either," Sully added, trying to help discourage the hat without calling it hideous to Lucina's face.

"You may be right," the time-traveler said. While she did seem a little disappointed, she was certainly not insulted or crushed by the girls' tactful rejection of her "cute" hat. She pulled the fuzzy thing off her head and opened her bag to put it away. "You know, I have a few other hats that might be more-" she started, rooting around in her things.

"Actually!" Sumia said quickly, moving next to the blue-haired girl with surprising speed. She hadn't been the only one to cringe at the mention of more hats. "We only need something to last until we are well clear of the city...so how about something simple?"

"Eh?" Lucina was taken by surprise by the pegasus knight's sudden actions. "Well yes, that makes s-"

"Good!" Sumia cut her off. "Now hold still for just a second!" She moved behind Lucina and pulled her hair back, eliciting a surprised look from the swordswoman—but also compliance. Sumia produced a small leather cord, bunched up the time-traveler's hair, and tied it up into a simple large ponytail.

"There," Sumia finally said. "That should make you look different enough for now. And once we're clear of Ylisstol, you can let it down and wear your tiara again." The whole process had only taken a few seconds.

Lucina touched her hair curiously and smiled again. "Thank you. I'm sure that will work," she said. While she did seem slightly disappointed at not wearing one of her hats, she also seemed strangely pleased with what Sumia had done to her hair, despite how rudimentary the change had been.

After that, the group loaded their bags on their horses and left the castle.

While, at that time, Robin and the others could not possibly have known, Lucina was practically glowing inside. Sure, she was sad at not getting to wear one of her hats, but the joy of having her mother do her hair for her more than made up for it. Even if it was something as simple as putting it up in a ponytail, she still treasured it. It was the first time Sumia had really said anything to her after the shock of finding out who she was. Lucina really hoped that this trip would give her more chances to interact with her mother. She ended up wearing the ponytail all day—well past clearing the city. She only took it down when it was time to sleep. She also conveniently forgot to return the leather cord.

* * *

Morgan was starting to seriously regret going with Grandpa Chrom's team. Not that she ever called him that—not even in her own time. She'd been a teenager before she'd found out that "Uncle Chrom" wasn't actually her uncle. By then it was too late to change. Of course, Lissa _had_ called him that on occasion to annoy him.

But Chrom had nothing to do with why the time-traveler wished she had gone with the other team. It was her aching feet which did that. After a few days of travel, the Shepherds' path took them into the hills and then into more mountainous areas. The path had gotten increasingly rough and narrow. On one side of the path, the ground rose steeply towards a mountainous peek. On the other, the ground dropped away sharply, leading down to a river far below them. The path itself was rocky and often uneven. Rather than "Breakneck," Morgan was beginning to think it should be called "Breakfoot Pass."

"Reckon I'm gonna need new boots after this," Donnel commented tiredly. Morgan was a little jealous of him—he was able to use his spear as a makeshift walking staff.

"Reckon _I'm_ gonna need new feet," Gaius added. He had started getting a bit testier lately. Most likely his stash of candy was running low.

Beside him, Lon'qu said nothing. He never complained (unless one of the females got too close to him). But Morgan had the distinct feeling that his glare had been getting increasingly sour as the trip wore on.

Panne was spending increased amounts of time in animal form. While she couldn't hold it indefinitely, it was clearly more comfortable for her to travel that way.

On the other hand, Chrom and Vaike appeared completely unaffected by the long hike. Their ideas of what constituted a brisk stroll and a forced march were clearly out of sync with the rest of the group.

In all, Morgan was more than a little revealed when Virion called out, "Sir Chrom, we appear to have incoming!" At the very least, the distraction allowed them to stop, even if briefly. Even concern for _what_ they had incoming was secondary.

"Plegians?" Chrom asked, his attention caught and his hand automatically going towards the Falchion's hilt.

"Unlikely, milord," Virion replied. He pointed into the sky behind them. The "archest of archers" had keen eyesight, which made him an excellent lookout. "It appears to be a loan pegasus and rider."

Indeed, following Virion's gesture, Morgan and the others found a lone figure in the sky approaching them. The figure did not appear to be a wyvern, though it was still too far away for the time-traveler to make out if it was a pegasus knight. Virion seemed sure, though, so she decided to trust in his eyes.

Besides, they were expecting the company. "Do you think it's Cordelia?" Chrom asked her.

"Probably," Morgan replied. "It's about time for her to arrive."

"We expecting Cordelia?" Vaike asked, having overheard them.

"Yes," Chrom replied. "Morgan asked Emm to send orders for her to report to us once the Plegians made it through the border defenses."

"Teach don't like the sound of that."

"Indeed."

"Who's Cordelia?" Donnel asked, having never met her before.

"She's an Ylissean pegasus knight, of course," Maribelle answered, trotting her horse back to the stopped Shepherds. "She's something of a protegee to Captain Phila. She's also close friends with Sumia and they used to train together. But then Cordelia joined the pegasus knights and Sumia joined the Shepherds."

"She's exceptionally skilled," Chrom told them as the figure in the sky drew closer. It could easily be identified as a pegasus knight by then.

"Well, she'll be joining the Shepherds now as well," Morgan added.

"Oh?" Maribelle asked. "Why now?"

"In my time, the border guard was decimated in the attack, but they sent Cordelia back to inform the Exalt," the time-traveler explained. "She was distraught at losing her sisters in arms. Phila sent her with Chrom to keep her busy, I think. By the end of the war, she'd become a permanent member of the Shepherds."

"Well hopefully the border guard has fared better this time around," Chrom said. "I see red hair, that's definitely her. Morgan, let's go to where Emm is and meet her there. Everyone else, wait here." More than a few of the replies to the order to halt were relieved.

The column of people had already stopped moving. Only a few of them knew that they were expecting a pegasus knight. The Exalt was traveling further back, surrounded by a small retinue of aides and guards, with four squadrons of pegasus knights boxing the group in. Several of the knights met Cordelia mid-air. They exchanged words for a moment before leading her down to where the Exalt rode in a carriage.

None of the guards attempted to stop Chrom and Morgan as they approached Emmeryn. By the time they got there, Cordelia had already landed and dismounted. As they drew closer they could hear her making her report: "Please be on guard, Your Grace," she was saying, somewhat out of breath. "I spotted wyvern riders circling around to get ahead of you. They were using clouds for cover, but I am fairly sure they were carrying passengers with them!"

"Surely not!" one of the priests in Emmeryn's entourage. "They can't possibly know of this path." The one who had spoken was an elderly bespectacled priest. Chrom had informed Morgan that this man was the hierarch, an important official who had aided Emmeryn during the early days of her reign. Morgan had not yet informed them that he was the one who sold the Exalt's location out to Plegia. It would be easier for them to act natural around him if they didn't know.

"Sounds like they are planning to ambush us a little deeper into the pass then," Chrom commented as he and Morgan arrived. "Peace, Cordelia, we are prepared for them."

"If-if you say so, milord," the pegasus knight replied. Her face was flushed from the hard ride, but Morgan noticed it get even redder when she spotted Chrom. _They told me she was almost as bad as Aunt Sumia. That's so weird!_

"Thank you for the warning, though," Emmeryn said, with a kind, sad smile. "But I am more concerned with the rest of the Halidom. If you are here, I assume that means that Plegia has crossed the border?"

"Would that I could say otherwise," Cordelia replied. "But it's true. Gangrel himself led his might against us! We did as commanded and stalled for time, but his forces were too great. Many of out troops fell, but the rest began a defensive retreat, as ordered. When I left, my sisters and the rest of the soldiers were still fighting to slow the Plegian advance and evacuate the villages in it's path."

Emmeryn sighed. "That is the best we could hope for, I fear. I pray our soldiers are able to evacuate as many civilians as possible."

"Thanks to your foresight, evacuation orders were already going into effect before the Plegian attack even began," Cordelia told her, clearly amazed at how well the Exalt had predicted the situation.

Emmeryn gave as small sigh. "Given the situation, I believe that continuing towards the eastern palace would be folly," she said, addressing everyone around now, rather than just Chrom or Cordelia. "I shall return to the city. If the people find out I am gone when the news reaches them, they could panic. Perhaps even riot. It could lead to needless deaths."

"But Emm," Chrom began, but she cut him off.

"I will return to the capital. I should never have left. Chrom, you will continue on to Ferox." Of course, Emmeryn was well aware of the real plan, but she had to say these things to keep up appearances. Likewise, Chrom knew she would be going back, and his attempts to dissuade her were halfhearted—it was all for show. They had already had the real discussion on the matter.

"We should at least take care of this Plegian ambush before we go," the prince said. "We don't want to leave them at our back."

"How could they have found us?" one of the Exalt's aides asked. "This is a secret pass! No one is supposed to know about it."

"Clearly Plegian spies have followed us," Chrom replied.

"Even if they did, how would they catch up to us so easily?" another official asked.

"I don't really know," Chrom replied, frowning in concentration. It was strange that the Plegians could catch them so easily. The spies would have to continually report their location. "It's almost as if they knew where we were headed," he murmured, looking curiously at Morgan.

The time-traveling tactician nodded. "That's because they did," she said. "We've been sold out."

People began to murmur and complain. Many of them denied the possibility. The hierarch was, of course, one of the ones to express disbelief that anyone would betray the Exalt. And his denials became even more vehement when the time-traveler named him as the traitor. Both Chrom and Emmeryn were surprised at this revelation, but they were about the only ones to take it seriously. The rest of the aides scoffed at her accusation. None of them knew who she was and she was basically dismissed outright.

Fortunately, Morgan's innate curiosity came to her aid here. When she had first been told the story of the war with Plegia back in her time, she had wanted to know why someone who had supported Emmeryn so much had suddenly turned on her. Neither of her parents knew the reason. But, fortunately, Uncle Chrom actually had the answer. During the war, he had been far to busy to worry about it, but afterward he had wanted answers and had researched the hierarch's motives.

Back when Emmeryn had first taken the throne, she had received help from many nobles and officials in running the Halidom. Chief among those helpers had been the hierarch and a certain government minister. While the two of them were cordial in front of the new Exalt, they had actually been political rivals. Their scheming was subtle and they kept their rivalry out of sight, so the young Emmeryn never knew about it. Each of them genuinely aided her, though their motives were somewhat selfish.

Several years after Emmeryn became Exalt and ended the war with Plegia, things in Ylisse had largely stabilized, and the Exalt wanted to reward those who had helped her through the tumultuous times of her coronation. The hierarch, seeing a chance to make powerful political maneuver, recommended that she grant the minister a certain estate as his reward. In truth, the estate was actually very nice, and most people would see it as an excellent reward. However, it was in a remote region, well removed from the capital. As such, receiving the estate would essentially end the recipient's political career...all while technically being a generous reward.

The hierarch sang the praises of this estate to Emmeryn, while telling how pleased the minister would be to receive it—even going into how much he deserved it. But, unfortunately for him, Emmeryn was still young and somewhat naïve. Seeing how well the hierarch spoke of this estate, she reasoned that he would be even _more_ pleased to receive it himself. And, seeing how he was getting on in years, she had come to the erroneous conclusion that he was interested in retiring from politics. So, the Exalt had chosen to surprise the hierarch with what she thought would be a wonderful gift, and gave him the remote estate instead.

Naturally, the hierarch had been furious. He'd managed to hide it from the Exalt, but he resented her from that day forward. He never once stopped to consider that it had been his own scheming that had done his political career in. His only solace was that his political rival had basically done the same thing and was likewise granted an estate well away from Ylisstol.

That might have been the end of things, were it not for a new incident only a few years earlier. A lord who's land was next to the hierarch's died suddenly without an heir. The various lords in the area disputed over what to do with his estate, before eventually turning to the Exalt for a ruling. The hierarch had been sure that he would finally get his due and Emmeryn would side with him. After all, in his mind she still owed him for inadvertently banishing him from court. As such, when she actually ruled in a far more impartial manner and he got very little land out of it, he was livid. To him this was base betrayal by an ungrateful monarch. It was these events which lead to him deciding to side with Plegia in the hopes that handing over the Exalt would finally land him the reward he felt he was owed.

By the time Morgan finished telling the Exalt and her companions this story, the mood had changed drastically. The officials and aides had begun to give the hierarch suspicions glances and the pegasus knights and guards had hardened expressions. Chrom had gone stone-faced, with anger alight in his eyes. The hierarch's incessant denials had become largely incoherent as he'd become increasingly pale.

Only Emmeryn still held a soft gaze—but it was one of pain and sadness. After a minute she finally spoke: "I see. It seems that I handled that situation poorly all those years ago."

"You couldn't have known, Emm," Chrom told her. "You were what? Twelve? Thirteen? You can't blame yourself for not picking up on the political posturing of some seasoned officials."

Emmeryn shook her head. "No. I actually _did_ know about their rivalry," she said.

This earned surprised exclamations from those gathered there, including an incredulous "What?! _"_ from the hierarch, and even a dumbstruck look from Morgan.

Emmeryn raised a hand for silence and spoke more directly to the hierarch, "You were subtle at first, but after a few years you and the minister had both gotten less restrained. You were no longer acting as covertly as you believed. Your rivalry was beginning to cause tension in the capital and people were starting to complain. That is why I granted you both estates well outside Ylisstol but in opposite directions. I wanted to end your quarreling without having to punish or tarnish the reputation of the men who had helped me so much."

At this point the hierarch sank to his knees. He could only stare at her, glasses askew and mouth hanging open, unable to do more than stutter. What had he done?

Emmeryn sighed. "I am sorry. I underestimated your ambition and misjudged your reaction. That was my mistake," she said. But then she stiffened and her voiced became more stern. "However, I cannot overlook an act of treason. In gratitude for all the help you have given me, I can only promise to spare your life. Guards, please take the hierarch into custody."

During the commotion of the hierarch's arrest and the orders for the Exalt's entourage to turn around, Morgan mused to herself. I seemed that even future Chrom had underestimated Emmeryn. For the first time, Morgan truly reflected on how incredible it was that the Exalt had managed to talk down the entire Plegian army using only her own life. The ruler had not survived in either Lucina's or her own future, and Morgan was only just realizing how formidable the woman was.

Soon Chrom put a hand on Morgan's shoulder. "Come on," he said. "We're going to go deal with those Plegians while Emm's party gets turned around and prepares to head back. Cordelia! Come with us."

"M-my prince?" the red-haired knight said, a bit confused and a bit embarrassed. "I should really return to the front lines now that I have made my report."

"Actually, Cordelia, you are being reassigned to the Shepherds," Phila told her, breaking away from the commotion around the Exalt.

"What? But why?" Cordelia had no issues with the Shepherds. If anything, she'd love the chance to work directly under Chrom. But she had chosen the pegasus knights, and her sisters-in-arms were still out there fighting.

"The order comes from the Exalt personally," Phila told her. "As for the reasoning behind it...Prince Chrom will have to fill you in on that."

"It's a bit of a long and complicated story," the prince added. "So we had best wait until after we deal with that Plegian ambush. For now, just trust that there is a good reason for it."

"I...see," Cordelia replied uncertainly. "I will do as you command." Even if she was confused, her training ensured that she would follow her orders dutifully.

"Excellent," Chrom said. "Now, this is Morgan. She'll be acting as our strategist for the time being. We have also gained a few other new Shepherds since the last time we saw you."

Morgan offered a friendly wave, which Cordelia returned with a respectful nod. "Your knowledge of the hierarch's motives and actions was impressive," the pegasus knight commented. "But if you knew he had betrayed the Exalt, why didn't you say so sooner?"

Morgan chuckled. "To keep up appearances. Didn't want Plegia to know we were on to them. And I couldn't really trust Chrom or the Exalt to act natural around him if they knew."

"I can understand that," Chrom grumbled. "But let's avoid any more surprises like that in the future, shall we?"

"I only promise to try," Morgan replied with a smirk. "Anyway, lets go rejoin the rest of the Shepherds and take care of those Plegians."

* * *

Cordelia made an effort to control her breathing. A deep tiredness was battling with a rush of adrenaline within her. She had ridden hard for two days to reach the Exalt as quickly as possible. She hadn't stopped except to rest her pegasus so as to not wear her down completely. Not to mention, she was still on edge from spotting the Plegian wyvern riders.

The Shepherds were only a little ways ahead of the Exalt's procession, so Cordelia led her pegasus as she followed Prince Chrom and this new girl, Morgan. She had actually heard a rumor that the prince had recently gained a tactician, but the rumor had implied it was a man. The redheaded knight was not particularly pleased with the change. One of her only regrets at joining the Ylissian pegasus knights was that she had to pass up the opportunity to work directly under Prince Chrom. She was particularly jealous of Sumia, who had joined Chrom's Shepherds. The two girls had become fast friends during their training days, but had also come to realize that they both had feelings for the prince. Still, they were the best of friends and had come to an unspoken agreement to not interfere with each others chances with him and to accept it if the other won. Unfortunately, the Shepherds had several other eligible women besides Sumia. While Miriel did not appear to have any interest in Chrom, Maribelle was a pretty young noble and Sully was a knight from a respected family who could match the prince in a fight. Either of them could be a serious threat is they made a move on Chrom. And now there was this Morgan girl too. Cordelia wasn't sure if she was a threat yet, but she didn't really like the idea of Chrom surrounding himself with more eligible girls.

Mentally, Cordelia chastised herself for getting distracted. She had no time for mooning over Chrom now. They were drawing closer to the others and the pegasus knight was surprised to find that, while the Shepherds _had_ gained some new members, their numbers had not particularly increased. Instead, many of them were missing.

"Where is everyone else?" she finally asked the prince.

"The rest of the Shepherds are off on a different mission," he told her.

"We'll explain that after this battle as well," Morgan added.

Cordelia frowned. Several notable members of the prince's small group were missing—most notably the princess. Though her absence could well explain the lack of Frederick. If the knight was protecting Princess Lissa wherever she was, that would at least make sense. Though, unfortunately, it seemed that Sumia was also missing.

"Hey ya, Cordelia!" the tanned and muscular Vaike called out as they approached, waving. "Good to see ya joining us!" Young Ricken also gave a friendly wave, while Miriel gave a curt nod of recognition and Maribelle gave a more formal one.

One of the newer faces stepped forward. "A pleasure to meet you my dear!" he said, giving a bow and a flourish. His dress was reasonable for travel, though of finer quality that you would see most men wear when marching on foot. Not to mention the addition of some embroidery and lace gave him the clear air of a noble. His longish hair was well kept and his clothes were oddly clean for the long march he had surely been a part of. "I was not aware we were expecting such a beauteous-"

"You can ignore Virion," Morgan spoke over the man. "He's always like that."

"And what, pray tell, do you mean by _that_?" the archer asked with a huff. "I will have you know that I never lie, nor flatter. I merely-"

"Have some decency," Maribelle said with a sniff. "This is neither the time nor the place for your antics."

It seemed the new Shepherds were as... _colorful_ as the rest. Though Cordelia did manage to give the poor archer, Virion, a quick, "It's a pleasure."

"Alright guys," Chrom said, calling everyone back to order. "This is Cordelia. She'll be joining us for the foreseeable future. As you can see, she's a pegasus knight, much like Sumia." There was a murmur of greetings from those gathered there.

"So what's the plan, Chrom?" Vaike asked. "Is the Exalt turning back? Teach was really enjoying the hike!" Cordelia pretended she didn't hear Morgan mutter something about boiling his feet in oil.

"Emm is turning back to the capital," the prince informed the group. Strangely, none of them seemed even mildly surprised by the news.

"Weren't we suppos'd to be ambushed first?" one of the new Shepherds asked—a boy who was leaning against a spear and wore a pot on his head as if it was a helmet.

"It seems the Plegians are a bit slow," Chrom replied. "But Cordelia spotted them in the air, so it's safe to assume they are laying in wait a little further down the path."

"Probably around the next bend or two," Morgan added.

"So, what're we gonna do about them?" Vaike asked.

"Well," Chrom replied, "did you remember your axe this time?"

"Course!" the burly man replied. "Ol' Teach ain't gonna forget twice. Err, also...Miriel tied it to my back..."

"Well I suggest you get it ready," Morgan told him. "Because before we can head back on our new mission, we need to deal with our ambushers."

Cordelia frowned. Not only had the group been nonplussed at the news the Exalt was going back to Ylisstol, but they had actually been expecting to be ambushed on the "secret" pass. She was definitely missing something here. Still, she knew that Prince Chrom was not foolhardy. If he was confident that the Shepherds could handle the Plegians, then she would believe him and do her part.

And she was definitely not blushing.

Right? Right.

* * *

 **Robin** _Class Change_

Tactician → Cavalier

 **Lissa** _Class Change_

Cleric → Troubadour

 **Lucina** _Class Change_

Lord → Cavalier

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

No, I'm not going to be doing the class change thing all the time, but I wanted to for this chapter.

Anyways, whew. Sorry about how long this chapter took. Real life has been kicking my butt lately. Hopefully it'll only be a couple more months and then my schedule will open up considerably. Still, it shouldn't be as bad as the last couple have been. So hopefully the next chapter won't take so long.

Speaking of the next chapter, Chrom and Morgan's team is in for a fight! Finally some action, eh? Not only that, but next chapter we will be meeting our first time-traveler aside from Lucina and Morgan! Who will it be? Well, feel free to guess.

Also, I have some really big news. A fellow writer, **sasahara17** , has written a few omakes based on this fanfic. He contacted me to make sure I was cool with that (which of course I was) and sent them to me. He's done two so far, and they are both very entertaining! They are posted over on SpaceBattles Forum, but unfortunately, I can't post links here. So, I will just post the two he has so far here. You can always find the original posts by google searching his user name and/or going to the Fire Emblem Ideas and Discussion section at SpaceBattles. Please take a moment to read them, you won't regret it!

* * *

 **First Omake ( _aka Severa meets Cordelia?)_ **(by sasahara17)

Severa was not amused. She was the opposite of amused.

As if being separated from the rest of her friends for years hadn't been bad enough, her mother's ring had been stolen by that ruffian Nelson, forcing her to fight at his behest. Her friend Holland was also gang-pressed into this poor excuse for a mercenary army. Then, Nelson go the bright idea to get the attention of an actual, professional military that were not amused by his banditry.

And to toff it all off, her mother had showed up.

"That was a good thing you did, Severa," Cordelia, the perfect, ever composed knightess, said with clear approval as she and her daughter watched Holland make his escape after Severa's urging, "It makes my heart swell with pride to know we share the same blood."

"P-praise, huh? T-That's a first from you." Severa growled.

Severa would have said something harsher, but her current state of discomfort and confusion over the sudden, unexpected reunion was making it hard for her to be her usual sarcastic self… especially since her mother seemed to be taking everything in stride. Her mother suddenly swooped out of nowhere seconds after the battle started, catching Severa completely off guard, and identified the mercenary for who she was by sight alone.

Cordelia had practically been glued to Severa's hip since, helping Severa charge through the fortress to find Holland to save his sorry ass. Severa had known her mother had been good warrior, perfect Pegasus knight all, but watching Cordelia battle through the halls of the fortress using a sword and some very fancy footwork let Severa picking her jaw off the floor.

"I… I didn't know you knew how to handle a sword." Severa muttered in confusion, anger simmering beneath the surface. She'd picked the path of a mercenary to get out from under her mother's long shadow, but apparently Cordelia had a talent with the blade too.

Damn it, all her hard work.

"My mother taught me. She was the best swordsman I knew… about as good as you, actually," Cordelia said with a knowing smile, "Really, mo-Severa, those skills of yours are truly formidable."

"Don't patronize me!" Severa retorted.

"My apologies then, forgive me for speaking out of turn," Cordelia bowed at the waist, "I truly meant what I said as a compliment. Could you forgive me?" Then Cordelia raised her head and looked into Severa's eyes with the most earnest, sincere look Severa had ever seen. For some inexplicable reason that Severa had yet to understand, Severa met that gaze for but a fraction of a second and was overcome with some instinctual need to comfort her mother.

"I-I-I-I hope you mean it!" Severa stammered, unsure about how to deal with such a foreign gesture.

Conflicted. That was how Severa was feeling right now. Everything wasn't going as it should.

Ever since Severa had come back in time, she had mentally played out hundreds, if not thousands of possible scenarios of her reunion with her parents in her head. Not one of them accounted for her mother acting like this.

Cordelia should have been the one that was shocked and disturbed at her daughter coming back in time. Instead, her perfect mother was taking everything in stride, including Severa's sharp tongue, and knew exactly what to say and do to disarm the fiery mercenary. It was Severa who was confused and disoriented by her mother's strange mannerisms. It almost made Severa want to scream 'imposter', had she not seen her mother in her father and Lucina's company earlier before they'd separated.

Obviously, someone had forewarned Cordelia about having a daughter from the future, and now the shoe was on the other foot.

"Someone is responsible for this, and when I figure out who, there will be hell to pay." Severa growled, mentally running through who in her list of friends would be the one most likely to have coached her mother. Oh, she would be having words with the one responsible for this, alright.

"Severa, should we get going?" Cordelia said, breaking Severa out of her musings, "Knowing Miss Lucina and Sir Robin, it won't be long before our main force will have cornered the enemy leader. I think if we regroup-"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Severa snapped.

"I was just making a suggestion," Cordelia bowed slightly to indicate she did not mean any offense, "Given that you did mention the bandit leader did slight you, I thought you might want to be there when Sir Robin and Au-Miss Lucina cornered him."

"You got that right," Severa decided, her grudge against the bastard who stole her ring getting the better of her annoyance at her mother, "I know this fortress' layout. I know where that asshole is going to be."

"Then lead the way, Severa." Cordelia agreed, "But we should hurry. Sir Robin works fast, and these mere bandits couldn't possibly hold out against…

"THE CHOSEN HEROINE, OPHELIA DUSK, HAS CORNERED THE VILLAIN! COME, SOLEIL, HONORED AUNT CYNTHIA, LET US BRING THE FINAL CURTAIN ON THIS ACT! JUSTICE CABAL, ONWARD!"

"…that was loud." Severa noted.

"…we should probably hurry." Cordelia agreed.

With that, both mother and daughter broke out into a frenzied run to catch up with the rest of their friends. All the while, a sinking suspicion that something not quite right with this whole situation began to settle in Severa's stomach.

Then something occurred to her.

"Aunt Cynthia?" Severa wondered.

She was definitely missing something here.

"Hey, Morgan." The Grandmaster Tactician of Ylisse said to the young woman that was by his side.

"Yep, Dad?" Morgan, (Future) Grandmaster Tactician of Ylisse and wielder of the third Falchion, turned to address her progenitor.

"Are you sure it was a good idea having Caeldori run off with her mother under the pretense of… uh, being her grandmother? If Severa is as… 'intense' as Lucina and the rest of you future kids say she is, won't she react badly to when the ruse is uncovered?" Robin pointed out.

"That's true," Morgan conceded before jabbing a finer at a certain nearby Pegasus Knight, "But considering the current state of Severa's ACTUAL mother…"

Both tacticians turned to look at the mother (and grandmother) in question.

"Oh, Naga… I'm not ready for this," Cordelia muttered shakily while paging through a huge, hand writing tome titled 'Basic guide for dealing with my mother, by Caeldori of Hoshido, edited by Morgan of Ylisse', "The more I read about her, the more certain I am that I am NOT ready for this."

"Geez, Cordelia, you have had weeks to prepare for this, get yourself together," Lissa said from where she sat next to the Pegasus Knight, "Besides, didn't you already go though this once already when Caeldori showed up? Wasn't suddenly becoming a grandmother worse than suddenly becoming a mother? This time you even have a manual!"

"That was different! At least Caeldori didn't hate me!" Cordelia yammered.

"Oh, Cordelia. She doesn't hate you." Lissa sighed.

"This manual says she does!"

Robin turned to look at the manual's editor with a raised eyebrow.

"In my defense, it was hard for Caeldori and I to not ignore that fact Aunt Severa did have a lot of mommy issues back then," Morgan defended, "Well, uh, does have a lot of mommy issues. At this age, Aunt Severa wouldn't have gotten over them yet. It's going to make things pretty difficult for her. So… I figured I could buy Aunt Cordelia some time with this strategy."

"Your strategies need a little work, grasshopper." Robin sighed.

By the gods, when had the Shepherds go from being Ylisse's premier fighting force to an almost daily circus filled with non-stop family drama?

* * *

 **Second Omake ( _aka Lucina Jumps to Conclusions_ ) **(by sasahara17) **  
**

By this point, finding time travelling kids from the future was becoming a regular occurrence for the Shepherds.

Since the day Lucina and Morgan had accidentally revealed themselves, every so often the Shepherds would come across someone related to one of their members, usually in an unusual, exciting or embarrassing fashion.

First, Soleil was discovered when she tried making a pass on Olivia and Virion while they were relaxing in local tavern. Their collective shock of the three family members upon realizing they were all related, and that Olivia and Virion's union had been responsible two generations of philanderers, was memorable to save the least.

Then, during a particularly harrowing moment, 'Cordelia' had swooped in out of nowhere to save the day… which surprised all the Shepherds, including Cordelia herself who had been on the opposite side of the battlefield at the time. Thankfully, despite some initial awkwardness, Caeldori and Cordelia got along surprisingly well.

Following that, Ophelia Dusk, Chosen Heroine of the Dark Kingdom, waltzed into the camp one day and demanded to join the 'Hallowed Ranks of Champions'. Brandishing her Brand as proof of her 'Heroic Lineage', it was impossible for anyone in the army to deny Ophelia from her chosen path.  
Owain had spawned.

For Lucina, Kjelle, Gerome, and Laurent, the only members of their generation that had been 'recruited' thus far, the slow trickle of third generation Shepherds, this 'third generation' presented a very concerning fact that they hadn't thought about before…

"We could be parents," Laurent stated as the four friends sat in a circle in the privacy of Lucina's tent, "With Ophelia's arrival we cannot deny the possibility anymore. In the future where we were almost victorious… we could have been parents."

"Impossible. I have no interest in starting a family." Gerome snorted.

"I don't think any of us had an interest in starting a family," Kjelle said out with a sad shake of her head, "Who in their right minds would have wanted to bring a child into a world like ours?"

"That's the thing, though. Morgan, Soleil, Caeldori and Ophelia didn't come from a world like ours. At least, not for the longest time," Laurent pointed out logically, "In fact, they came from a world where we we had won."

Laurent's words rung true. That changed everything, didn't it? A world where they had succeeded, albeit briefly, was a world that had hope. A future without the spectre of Grima constantly looming over them was so strange, so alien to the four young heroes, yet they had now seen the undeniable evidence the future that they had fought for… had happened.

The thought that some future version of themselves lived in such a world was as uplifting for these scarred survivors as it was frightening.

"Even when Grima was revived, their world wasn't devoid of hope. I spoke at length with Caeldori to learn more about her past. She had an interesting story to tell," Laurent informed his companions, "Even though Ylisse itself was lost when Grima was revived, there was an evacuation of the civilians through the Outrealm Gate to a different kingdom. There were many survivors."

"A different kingdom?" Lucina echoed, remembering Morgan had mentioned something about distant lands that Ylisse had made contact with in that future.

"The Kingdom of Valla, protected and ruled by the Dragon Queen Corrin, and the Kingdoms of Nohr and Hoshido took in our world's refugees," Laurent stated "At the time Morgan and her group went through time, it seemed these three kingdoms were preparing for their own war against Grima."

"Aren't those Kingdoms myths from the distant past?" Kjelle wondered.

"We are time travellers, and many myths do have origins that have some basis on fact. It isn't too much of a stretch that in their future, Ylisse somehow made contact with Nohr and Hoshido," Laurent shrugged, "It is also not too much of a stretch that Grima would have set his sights on other lands once he had destroyed ours. His hatred of humanity is something we know all too well."

"Well, it's clear that Valla, Nohr and Hoshido were doomed to fail against Grima. Morgan and her group would not have made the trip if they had a chance of victory in their own timeline." Gerome growled.

"Maybe so. However, it doesn't change the fact there was a time in her world that we would not have been averse to having children, as the existence of Soleil, Caeldori and Ophelia will attest." Laurent countered.

Which naturally led them back to the matter at hand.

Children.

From the Future.

Their Children from the Future.

"This was supposed to be our parent's problem." Gerome muttered darkly.

"Indeed. None of our own contingencies ever accounted for something like this." Laurent agreed.

"I still can't believe Inigo and Owain managed to find wives who would put up with them," Kjelle muttered, "Or the fact Inigo would have raised a daughter who is crass enough to try taking me and my mother out for tea. At the same time no less."

"I'm more surprised that Severa had a daughter that is exactly like Aunt Cordelia," Lucina grimaced, "I am not looking forward to when Severa gets here and finds out about that."

"Do we even know who Caeldori's father is?" Kjelle mused.

"From what Caeldori has told me, her father is Sky Knight from the land of Hoshido that Severa is not due to meet for a number of years yet," Laurent said, "That has implications of its own, of course, but the fact of the matter is that Severa settled down and had a daughter. A well-adjusted daughter. Surely you must understand what it means for the rest of us if Severa of all people had a daughter."

The whole group winced simultaneously.

Severa's issues about her mother were well known. The mere fact that the prickly mercenary had gone off and had a daughter that was essentially the second coming Cordelia had some very interesting implications, especially given that said daughter had given every indication that Severa enjoyed a great relationship with her.

If Severa could change, what did it say about the rest of them?

"Lucina, you and Morgan spend a lot of time together in strategy planning," Laurent looked at their generation's leader, "Did she give any indication which of us had children? Did she give any indication that -any- of us had children until Soleil first revealed herself?"

"No, no she didn't. If anything she immediately focused on issues relating to our generation, such as recruiting you three earlier and breaking the news to our parents," Lucina recalled, "It never even occurred to me that we would have had children of our own who had come back in time."

"Then who did you think was part of her team? You didn't think Morgan made the whole trip on her own did you?" Kjelle wondered.

"Morgan actually mentioned something about the existence of siblings we never had in our own timeline. I assumed that her companions would have been alternate versions of ourselves and these siblings." Lucina's lips curled as she realised that Morgan had played her like a fiddle.

Morgan was Robin's daughter, a daughter he never had in Lucina's timeline. Lucina, in her own ignorance and Morgan's careful omission of certain facts, had presumed that the only new additions to the Shepherds would have been from their parents having more children than they originally did.

The idea that her generation would have had time to have offspring of their own was so alien to her, Lucina never even considered the possibility until Inigo's daughter was staring her in the face.

Morgan may play the fool most of the time, but it was times like this that Lucina knew that the young tactician was definitely her father's daughter.

"Assumptions are dangerous and lead to jumping to the wrong conclusions, Lucina. You know this." Laurent admonished.

"In my defence, Morgan was leading me on," Lucina explained sheepishly, "That girl knows me even better than I know myself, so she knows exactly what to say to mislead me."

"That is true. So you haven't been able to glean anything from Morgan?" Laurent said.

"No. Not even when I pressed her directly. She is remarkably tight lipped around these issues. She's even more stubborn than I am." Lucina admitted with a sigh of defeat.

"Well, I did find out that Soleil had a brother while we were sparring the other day," Kjelle drummed her finger against her seat idly as she recalled what the jovial swordswoman had told her, "She said his name is Shigure, and unlike her, he inherited Inigo's dancing skills and his mother's voice."

"I hope the boy isn't nearly as bad of a flirt as his sister or father," Gerome scowled, "But enough about those of us we know who have had children. How do we find out about the rest of us?"

"Worried that you have a daughter named Minerva, Gerome?" Kjelle smirked.

"Hardly. I'm more concerned about how some of the more excitable members of our cohort would react to their children," Gerome retorted smoothly, not even looking the least bit ruffled by Kjelle's challenge, "Of our group, Cynthia and Yarne were the ones who would have been the most open to having children, so we should start planning on how to handle them when they do join our group."

"Gerome as a point. Yarne would definitely have children to ensure the propagation of his species," Laurent observed, "And even if his children did not accompany Morgan's team to our time, the mere fact Inigo, Owain and Severa's daughters are here will surely have him thinking about the idea."

"As would my sister." Lucina agreed. For all her aspirations of being a heroine, Cynthia would definitely love the idea of having a Pega-Pony-Princess of her own. If anything, Cynthia would be disappointed that the intrepid leader of the second generation of Justice Cabal, the Chosen Heroine, Ophelia Dusk was not…

…was not…

Lucina abruptly stood up, startling the other three-time travellers.

"Excuse me, friends. I will have to take my leave," Lucina stated, her face grave and the fingers of her sword hand twitching as she walked toward the exit of her tent, "I have to ask my niece something."

It was only much later, after a red-faced Lucina had discovered from an equally mortified Ophelia that the latter's mother was a princess from Nohr named Elise, that Lucina understood that she had made another embarrassing assumption: that her sister and Owain had not been kissing cousins.

On one hand Lucina had been relieved that her assumption had been unfounded.

On the other hand, she wanted to die of embarrassment, and hoped Cynthia and Owain would never learn about this incident.

Unfortunately, this was a futile hope since Morgan had been there at the time, and had laughed herself sick when the confrontation happened.

Apparently the intermarriages between the royal families of Nohr and Hoshido due King Ryoma, King Xander and Prince Leo marrying each other's' sisters had become something of a joke in her time, and Lucina suddenly implying Ylisse had fallen into the same debauchery been black humour at its' worst.

Lucina had never been the best at social interaction due to her traumatic childhood, but by the gods how was she this bad?

Morgan - Just according to Keikaku. Mom and my Aunts and Uncles are all so confused they are making all these ridiculous guesses. Don't have to worry about her figuring out that I am her kid now!

*Much Later*

Shigure - Ah, Morgan. There you are. You dropped this...

*Gives her Falchion (Number 3) in full view of all the Shepherds, including Chrom, Robin and Lucina*.

Shigure - It is a good thing I picked Falchion up after you dropped it fighting the Risen. This was the last memento you had from your mother, right?

*Lucina stares at Morgan in horror that she is the parent of their resident Troll. Chrom stares at Robin as he realized his best friend 'had relations' with his daughter. Morgan and Robin start sweating buckets*

Morgan/Robin - Oh crud.

* * *

A big thanks to sasahara17 for writing those. I know they inspired me in return.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

 _ ***Edit - just making sure to better point out that the omakes were NOT written by me. Also, as sasahara17 does not no where this story is going any more than anyone else does, these are obviously not canon and are just for fun.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Fire Emblem: Awakening— _A Future Intervention_**

 **Chapter Four**

Frederick waved a gauntleted hand, signaling the people behind him. In response, the group of seven riders slowed their mounts to a walk. There were a number of moans and groans from the group as the horses changed their pace.

"I always figured riding everywhere would hurt _less_ than walking," Lissa moaned. "I think my blisters are developing blisters!" She winced slightly as she rubbed her thigh. Sore did not begin to describe her rear end at the moment.

To the princess's side Sully snickered. "Oh please! You got a sweet little ambling palfrey that rides smooth as silk. Try trotting a warhorse all day."

"Don't actually try it," Stahl said from a few paces behind, wincing slightly. "It's not pleasant—even with training. Good thing my legs are already calloused."

"Still, I'd say Frederick has it the worst," Sully added.

"Why's that?" Robin asked from behind Lissa.

"Cuz his big ol' destrier ain't built for distance riding. It's an especially powerful warhorse bred specifically for battle."

"I assure you, I have specially trained my horse for distance riding," Frederick called back from the lead of their group. "My duties with the Shepherds required it." For a moment, Lissa pitied the poor horse for the hellish endurance training the knight has likely subjected it to.

"Besides," Sully said, "riding ain't about being more comfortable—it's about being faster."

"I guess that's true," the blonde princess relented. "But I'm still worried my rear end will fall off before we reach Ferox. Wait a minute—Frederick is this why you usually walked beside your horse instead of riding it when you traveled with me and Chrom?"

"The main reasons I usually led my horse rather than riding him were two-fold," the stately knight replied. "First, there was no point in out pacing yourself or the prince. It would have been counterproductive to use a mode of travel faster than the people I was protecting. Secondly, it is easier on my steed to not have to constantly carry my weight and that of my armor. As Sully said, warhorses are not really intended for distance travel, but for charging into battle."

Lissa narrowed her eyes, peering at Frederick's back. She was not convinced.

The knight gave a small cough. "Though, I admit that avoiding saddle sores was certainly a bonus."

The blond princess leaned back and gave a satisfied grin at Frederick's admission. "Hey, Sumia," she called out, turning to the side. "How smooth is riding a pegasus compared to a horse?"

"Well, on the ground it's not much different," the pegasus knight replied. For most of the trip she had kept her pegasus low—only a few feet off the ground. Robin had suggested this so as to avoid being spotted. Pegasai flew by essentially running on air rather than flapping their wings like a wyvern. Instead, their wings were used for stabilization, gliding, and to perform tricky maneuvers. As such, Sumia was able to travel with the group by simply riding just a little above the ground. However, pegasai had trouble flying at a pace as slow as a walk. As such, once the group slowed, Sumia had landed with her mount and begun walking alongside the others. "In the air, though, a pegasus is much smoother."

"Maybe I should learn to ride a pegasus," Lissa mused. "It'd probably be better than a horse if I have to travel like this again."

"I hate to point this out," Lucina interjected. "But we are only two days into a week long ride, Aunt Lissa. You might want to save your complaints for a little later."

Lissa groaned but Robin pointed out, "At least we'll be able to take a break once we reach the Khan."

"I hope so," Lissa said. "By the way, how long are we going to walk the horses for this time, Frederick?"

"About an hour should be good, milady," he replied. "It will do us no good if we push them to exhaustion."

The group had been alternating between several hours of trotting their horses at a faster pace and slowing down to a walk to let the animals rest a bit. It was the necessary method for traveling long distances by horse. Ideally, quick traveling messengers would ride hard all day and change out their horse each night at a government station, however this group wanted to avoid detection and so couldn't use that strategy.

On the plus side, walking gave the riders a chance to talk. It was hard to do so at quicker paces—both because of the noise and because of the risk of biting your tongue. Lissa had done that once already.

Fishing for a new topic of conversation, the princess turned to her future niece, who had moved up beside her. "So, Lucina," she said, "can you tell us anything of what to expect once this war gets going?"

"I...I'm not really sure," the time-traveler replied. "It has already changed much from the future I knew. In my time, the war was largely an invasion of Plegia by Ylisse in response to the Exalt's assassination. We're pretty much going off of Morgan's knowledge at this point."

Lissa gave a sigh. "So there isn't anything you can tell us, then?"

Lucina thought for a second. "Well, there are a couple of things that happened in both my time and Morgan's, though they played out a bit differently in each."

"Oh really?" Lissa asked, snapping to attention. "Like what?"

"Well, in both of our times Cordelia ended up joining the Shepherds," Lucina answered.

"Really?" Sumia asked, looking interested. Cordelia was her best friend. But also a potential rival for Chrom's affection.

"Yes," the blue-haired princess went on. "In my time she didn't join until late into the war, but in Morgan's time she joined very early." She stopped for a moment and frowned. "We are trying to avoid having the border guards be wiped out like they were in Morgan's future, but we decided to have Emmeryn reassign Cordelia to the Shepherds to keep her joining the same. She'll probably join Father's group within the next few days."

"Well that's interesting," Lissa commented. "Anything else?"

"Well, a few other people joined the Shepherds in both our times," Lucina said. "One was a Plegian dark mage who defected."

"Seriously?!" Lissa asked, while a few of the others muttered their own surprise.

"Yes. She didn't join until the very end of the war in my time, but she joined considerably earlier in Morgan's," Lucina explained. "She's...a bit more interested in her own magic than she is in politics or Plegian dogma. Not everyone buys in to Gangrel's fear and hate mongering. Still...she was always an odd one."

"Anyone else?" It was Sully who asked this time.

"Well, Basilio brought another ally to you, aside from Lon'qu. Then there were two more people who joined, but I'm afraid I'd rather not say much about them," Lucina replied.

"Hush-hush future stuff?" Lissa asked.

"Not really. I'd just rather not spoil the surprise." Lucina gave a slight chuckle. "Morgan would be particularly upset if I ruined that one for her." Lissa gave a disgruntled groan in response.

"I'm actually surprised you would say so much," Frederick commented. "You were particularly adamant about guarding knowledge of the future."

"Well, Morgan and I talked it out and decided that there were some things we could tell you all, and some things we couldn't," Lucina replied. "Some of it is things there was no point in hiding."

"So..." Lissa started.

"My mother is still on the 'no' list."

"Drat," Lissa frowned. It had been worth a shot. "What about your friends?" she asked.

There was a pause before Lucina replied, "It depends."

That got everyone's attention. "On what?" Sumia asked.

"Well, with a lot of my friends, once you meet them you'll be able to easily pick out who one of their parents is." the time-traveler said. "Like me. If you knew only that I was the child of a Shepherd from the future, how hard would it be to guess who my father is?"

Lissa snorted while Robin and a few of the others chuckled. "Not very hard," the blond princess agreed.

Lucina nodded. "Morgan and I talked about what we could say about who," the time-traveler told them. "If you want to know if you have any children, I can tell you that. But whether or not I can give more than a yes or a no depends on the parent and the child."

"So, since we'd be able to guess your father easily anyway, it's safe to tell us," Stahl commented idly.

"Right," Lucina continued. "But with both Morgan and I, our mother's aren't so obvious. As such, it would be safe to tell you who our fathers are, but not our mothers. We really want to avoid telling people who they are supposed to marry and such. I'm sure you can imagine how awkward that would be."

"So...basically if we have a child that obviously takes after us, you can tell us about them. But if they take after their other parent, you can only tell us that we have a child. Is that right?" Sully concluded.

"Exactly," Lucina told them. "But only if you want me to. Also, it's entirely possible for someone to have more than one child, but I'll only tell you about one. Say, if each child takes after a different parent. There may even be ones from Morgan's time I don't know about. Oh, and I'll only tell you about your own children—no asking about anyone else."

"Ooo! I wanna know!" unsurprisingly, Lissa was the first to speak up.

"Naturally," Lucina said with a little chuckle. "Actually, Aunt Lissa, you make a good example."

"How so?"

"You have a son. His name is Owain."

"Really?! What's he like?" Lissa asked excitedly.

"Well, like I said," Lucina answered, "he's a good example of someone who makes one of his parents obvious. You see he has a...very strong personality, much like you. He's quite the character. Add in that he has the Mark of the Exalt on his arm, and it would be really easy for anyone to figure out that you are his mother. Plus he has your hair."

"He...has the Mark?" Lissa asked, her voice catching in her throat slightly. At Lucina's nod the blonde princess felt a soft warmth dissolving through her being. Not possessing the Mark herself had always been one her biggest insecurities. Hearing that her son had it felt like a weight was being lifted from her shoulders.

"Can-can you tell me any more about him?" the princess finally asked.

"Well, like I said, he's quite...colorful," Lucina replied. "He loves to play the role of the hero and can be very dramatic about it. But really, it's hard to describe him. It would probably be better to wait until you can see him in person."

"Alright," Lissa said before giving a big smile. For once, she was actually content with waiting to learn more. "Thank you, Lucina."

The blue-haired princess blushed slightly at her aunt's thanks. She didn't really know how much it meant to Lissa.

There was a moment of silence before Sully finally spoke up. "Ok, I'll bite. Do I got any kids in your future?"

"A daughter named Kjelle," Lucina replied. "It's not so much that she particularly look like you over her father, but one conversation with her would give it away. She...has your work ethic. In spades. She's a fine warrior—if a bit intense at times." Sully gave a satisfied grunt at that.

"That's kind of scary," Stahl commented, earning him a glare from the red knight. "Alright, so what about me?"

"Well, you have a child," Lucina said. "But I can't tell you any more than that."

The green knight shrugged. "Alright. Fair enough." Lissa couldn't be sure, but she thought Lucina chuckled slightly before answering. Was there something funny about Stahl's child?

"Um...w-what about me?" Sumia asked timidly. Lissa was actually quite curious about this as well. Of all the Shepherds, Sumia was likely the one most wanting to hear that she had a child, but have Lucina refuse to tell her any more. It wasn't a secret amongst the Shepherds that Sumia fancied Chrom. Even if the pegasus knight in question thought it was.

"Oh!" Lucina replied, almost startled that the shy Sumia had actually spoken up. "Well, yes, you have a daughter name Cynthia."

Lissa noticed a strange expression pass over Sumia's face. Probably a mix of disappointment that she didn't get the answer she was hoping for and curiosity at the reveal of this Cynthia girl.

Lucina went on, "She's a pegasus knight, just like you. Actually, she inherited Belfire from you."

"Oh?" Sumia asked, caught off guard by that tidbit. "Right. Because we're all..."

Lucina winced and nodded. "Yes. You're all dead in my time. In our time after...well several days after we found out you had died, Belfire showed up at the palace on her own and wouldn't leave Cynthia's side."

"I see," Sumia said wistfully. "Can you tell me about her?"

"Well, she's a very sweet person," Lucina told. "Though she's also a bit...flighty? And sometimes clumsy."

This time Sumia winced. "Of course she'd pick up _that_ trait from me..."

"But she's always upbeat and positive," Lucina continued. "And her and Owain are always arguing over which of them will be the greatest hero in the land."

"I see," Sumia replied with a smile. "I'd like to meet her."

"Hopefully you can soon," Lucina responded. "I'm sure you'll like her."

"Well," Lissa added. "We did promise to help you find your friends once this war is over." There were murmurs of agreement from the group before the blonde princess spoke up again, "So what about Frederick?"

"That's up to him, Aunt Lissa," the time-traveler replied with a chuckle.

"What about it, Frederick?" she asked, turning towards him.

From the front of the group, Frederick shrugged. "Either I will or I won't have children in the future," he said. "I don't see how knowing about it now would help."

Lissa puffed her cheeks and glared at his back. "Aren't you at least curious?" she demanded.

"Mildly," the knight replied. After another moment of the princess glaring at him, he added, "But I can see that you won't let this go. Very well. Lucina, do I have any children in your time?"

"You do," she replied. "But I can't give you any details."

"I see. Thank you."

"That was kind of...anti-climactic," Lissa muttered. Though, turning back to her niece, the time-traveler was definitely stifling a laugh this time. What was so funny about Stahl's and Frederick's children? Putting that aside for now, Lissa went on, "Just to be clear, Lucina; if your mother asked you, you would just tell her she had a child and nothing else?"

The time-traveler hesitated for a second before responding. "Well, yes. That or I would tell her about any other children she had—if she had any."

"So do you have any siblings?"

Lucina gave her aunt a flat stare. "I'm obviously not going to answer that. Saying either way would give away more information than I want to reveal."

Lissa gave a _tisk_. "Fine, fine," she said. Though after Lucina turned away from her, she caught Sumia's eye and gave her a thumbs up. There was still hope! It took the pegasus knight a second to realize what the princess meant, and then she turned beat red.

* * *

"Well that didn't take very long."

Several of the other Shepherds nodded in agreement with Gaius's comment. The group had only continued marching for a few minutes before coming upon the Plegian soldiers out to ambush them. The pass had become twisted and winding, and they had taken a few turns, which brought them out of sight of the Exalt's party just before the enemy had revealed themselves.

Morgan scanned the group of soldiers with a critical eye. It was more or less what she had expected. And honestly, she was relieved they didn't have to keep marching for hours to find the ambush.

The Plegians had set up amongst the shrubbery and a few patches of trees that obscured the path. In reality, it was a pretty good place to prepare their ambush. Morgan spotted a few sneaky swordsmen trying to hide behind trees while archers were using the bushes as cover. The stronger, tougher soldiers with axes didn't particularly try to hide. As the Shepherds rounded the bend and came into view of their foes, two groups of wyvern riders appeared—one descending from the peaks to the left and the other rising out of the valley to the right. Had they not been expected, it would have been an intimidating sight.

The leader of the Plegian troops began calling out taunts at the Shepherds, but Chrom turned towards his allies, ignoring the wyvern rider, and said, "Alright people. This is it—stay sharp. Morgan, you have a plan?"

"Right." she replied. "When I say go, everyone take care of your assigned tasks. Kellam, take out that archer there with your javelin and hustle over to take his spot."

"Alright, but what about-?" the knight began to ask.

Morgan, however, spoke right over him. "Lon'qu, you stick with Kellam and take out that guy with the big hammer. Take care of any axemen who come after him and use his armor as cover from the enemy archers."

"Got it," the swordsman replied, drawing his killing edge. The curved blade was a magical one—nothing like the powerful Falchion, but, like many other stronger weapons, it was technically enchanted. It's particular magic greatly increased it's cutting power—but only against unguarded flesh. Strikes against armor (or hard scales) would not be enhanced in any way, but strikes against unprotected areas or gaps in a foe's armor would cut very deep indeed. Combined with the cutting power of a curved blade, it made the sword deadly in the hands of a swordsman particularly skilled at striking weak points. As such, many agile warriors favored them.

Morgan went on, "Uncle Chrom and Vaike, take over that area and watch each other's backs. The Falchion is especially good at killing wyverns, so have at it." Off to the side, Maribelle had to tell a startled Cordelia not to worry about Morgan's relationship with the prince, and that they would explain later why she called him "Uncle" sometimes.

Morgan also assigned Donnel and Panne to follow up the first two groups and work together to take out the swordsmen hiding in the trees. Then she turned to the mages. "Miriel, you stick close to me. We'll use our Wind tomes to attack the wyvern riders. Use your Elfire only if you really need to. Ricken, you stay back with us too. Your Elwind tome will be particularly strong against the wyverns, so make use of that. Gaius, you have the wyrmslayer, right? You stick close to Ricken. There are sure to be a few more wyvern riders staying out of sight. They'll probably try to attack our back line. You'll deal with them."

Much like the killing edge, the wyrmslayer was also a magical sword. It had a serrated blade, intended for cutting scales and an enchantment that made it more effective at cutting dragons and their kin—including wyverns. Naturally, wyrmslayers were far more commonly used against wyverns than actual dragons.

"How're you sure there's more of 'em?" Donnel asked.

"Their strategy should be something like this;" Morgan told them. "This group appears in front of the Exalt's party. See how they're geared to fight pegasus knights? Axes and bows, but not a mage among them."

"They did reveal themselves quite readily," Virion commented. "I assume that means that these drab fellows are a distraction?"

"Exactly," Morgan replied. She was a bit surprised by the archer's sharp observation. "There are more of them than us, but way fewer than the pegasus knights guarding the Exalt."

"Yes, even if disadvantaged, I believe the pegasus knights could overwhelm them with sheer numbers," Cordelia added.

"Yes. Or rather, they would _have to_ ," Morgan said. "They revealed themselves so early because their plan was to draw the pegasus knights into battle away from the Exalt. Then, while the Exalt is poorly defended, a few more hidden wyvern riders would swoop in to capture her. Then, if the pegasus knights try to help her, they'd have to turn their backs on the enemy, and would get annihilated. On the other hand, if they finish the fight first, they won't be able to catch up with her kidnappers."

"Of course, Emm isn't with us now," Chrom said. "So they will probably join the battle to try and take us out before the Exalt's party catches up with us—they don't realize she is turning back yet."

"So those of us who prefer to...keep our distance will likely be ambushed in the Exalt's place," Virion concluded.

"That's right, Virion," the time traveler replied. "That's why Gaius is sticking with us. Plus I have my sword as well. And speaking of you, Virion, you're on wyvern shooting duty as well."

"But of course."

"Also, Cordelia, you stick close to Virion," Morgan added. "Our foes are prepared to fight pegasus knights, so you'll be disadvantaged if you fly out at them. Fend off anyone who gets too close and, when I give you the signal, fly Virion over to a new vantage point once our troops have cleared one out."

The red-headed knight gave a brief salute. "Understood."

"It looks like our foes have realized we aren't interested in bantering with them," Chrom said. "They're preparing to attack."

The whole conversation had taken only a couple minutes as the two groups drew closer. The leader of the Plegians had been calling out to them, insulting Chrom and trying to get a rise. Clearly he had realized he was being ignored and got irritated. He had begun rallying his men to action.

"Maribelle, you stay back with the ranged attackers," Morgan said, unhooking the green tome that was fastened to her belt over her right hip. "Stay out of combat unless someone needs healing. I'll let you know." The noblewoman gave a nod of understanding.

"Alright, everyone has their orders. Let's go!"

The first strike came from Kellam, who had readied his javelin while Morgan was instructing the others. The throwing spear flew into the chest of an enemy archer, who had been preparing to fire at the Shepherds from a nearby thicket. The armored knight then gripped his iron lance and—with much less noise than one would expect—rushed towards the spot the archer had intended to shoot from. Lon'qu was instantly in the larger man's shadow, following him. At the last moment, the swordsman put on a burst of speed and slipped by Kellam, just in time to intercept a warrior charging at the knight with a large warhammer. A quick slash from the Feroxian man's sword and the warrior went down in a spray of blood.

At the same time, Chrom and Vaike took off after the next closest enemy. The Plegian soldier probably realized he was in trouble pretty quickly, as the two rivals raced each other towards their foe, intent on seeing which of them could fell the target first. Morgan almost groaned at the way they were practically playing. Vaike actually got there first, but, with charging at full speed, his swing was reckless and the Plegian managed to deflect it. However, Chrom's strike followed almost immediately and the enemy soldier could not defend against it and fell.

Meanwhile, Virion had drawn his bow and fired twice at the nearest wyvern rider. The first shot struck the wyvern itself. It undoubtedly hurt, but wyverns were very tough creatures and the wound would not stop it. The second shot, however, caught the rider. Morgan couldn't tell, but it might have been right in the face. Either way, the rider fell off his mount, which, without orders, continued flying on over the Shepherds and away from the battle.

Donnel and Panne had also reached one of the Plegian swordsmen trying to lay in wait. The Taguel, in her rabbit form, had reached the foe first and kicked at him with her powerful hind legs. The blow had knocked the Plegian off his feet, but hadn't been enough to kill him. However, by the time he got back to his feet, Donnel had caught up and thrust his lance into the swordsman's chest, finishing him off.

Even as all that had been happening, Morgan and the other mages had also sprung into action. The time-displaced girl had opened her Wind tome. It was a fresh book and had never been used before. As such, all the pages were still ready, with a large magic circle covering the width of the page. The lower corners of the page were filled with writing, describing the Wind spell and how to use it. At the top was written the incantation. Wind was one of the most basic combat spells, so it had a short, single-word incantation. More powerful spells would naturally have longer ones.

Before leaving Ylisstol, Morgan's father had gotten her a basic iron sword and a Wind tome. She had, unfortunately, lost her weapons when she had messed up her entrance into the past. They were probably lost somewhere in the Outrealm.

Morgan placed her hand over the open page in the book and began to channel magical energy into her fingers. In response, the magic circle on the page began to glow. The young tactician moved her hand away from the page and the glowing magic circle went with it, leaving the center of the page blank and useless.

Morgan aimed her hand at one of the wyvern riders and the magic circle grew in size until it was as large as a small round shield.

" _Falst_ _ẽ_ ," the tactician chanted and the circle sparked and a blade of wind magic shot forward from it.

The wind blade itself would not be visible, just as wind was typically not visible. However, the magic power charging it gave the blade a green glow. The Wind spell itself was perhaps the weakest attack magic on it's own. The blade of wind cut with less force than a typical sword. Of course, the magic power of the user could amplify that force, much like how the strength of the user could increase a sword's force. Still, the spell had its advantages. The first was that armor had little effect on it, because it was magic. That went for a wyvern's scales too. Though a highly resistant mage could easily shrug off the effect, unlike that of a sword.

The second advantage to wind magic was that the actual attack was accompanied by a gust of strong wind. This gust wasn't particularly of note against enemies on the ground, but it could be serious trouble for flying foes. The blast of wind could easily mess with the lift in their wings. Pegasai, who ran on the air and had high magical resistances, could often ignore this effect. Wyverns, on the other hand, were very weak to it. Even if the blade of a Wind spell didn't do significant damage, the accompanying gust of wind could cause the beast to falter mid-air.

The last big advantage of wind magic was that it was hard to avoid. The spell didn't end for its caster the moment the blade of wind launched. Instead, the tome-user could continue to direct the spell during flight. You couldn't control it freely or anything, but with a Wind tome, the caster could still "steer" the wind blade in any direction they chose. This would cause the spell's trajectory to arc in that direction, giving them some ability to pursue targets that tried to dodge, or correct their own aim if it was off.

By contrast, once a Fire spell was launched, the caster could not change it's direction, but they could cause it to detonate whenever they chose. So if the target didn't dodge far enough they might still be hit by the blast. Thunder magic struck at the speed of light, making it impossible to actually dodge the bolt of lightning. However there was a small delay between casting the spell and the lightning striking, so it was possible to dodge the caster's aim or to miss a swift moving target.

Morgan directed her Wind spell at her target wyvern rider. The rider tried to turn his mount, but Morgan simply tacked them with her spell. The blade of wind clipped the wyvern's wing, cutting a gash in it. While certainly painful, it wasn't the actual damage, but rather the gust of wind that cause the reptilian creature to lurch in the air, losing momentum from its flight. Beast and rider dropped, but they managed to recover and stay aloft, only losing a couple meters of altitude.

Morgan had not expected to down them with a single spell, however, and neither had Miriel. The studious mage had launched her own Wind spell at the flying enemies shortly after Morgan's. This time they had no ability to dodge. The second wind blade struck same wing as the first; cutting more deeply and slicing through one of the bones within the wing membrane. The wyvern and rider dropped again, but this time there was no recovery. They plummeted into the ravine off the side of the pass.

Ricken, on the other hand, was using a more powerful Elwind tome. It fired off several wind blades all at once, all accompanied by an even bigger gust of wind. He had no problem taking down a wyvern with a single spell.

Even as the mages began their barrage, Morgan kept an eye on the rest of the battle unfolding before her. Vaike had hurled his hand axe into the chest of another Plegian archer, leaving only a single enemy bowman hiding at the far side of the enemy formation. At the same time, Chrom had dealt with one of the wyvern riders who came diving down from the mountain peak. Morgan almost felt sorry for the Plegian who quickly discovered that he had attacked someone wielding a legendary dragon-slaying sword. The prince gutted the beast in a single strike, sending it tumbling to the ground and crushing the rider as it rolled over several times.

A little ways away from them, Lon'qu also found himself fending off a wyvern rider. While his weapon was not magically enchanted to slay dragons, his speed and skill allowed him to out maneuver his foe and lop the head off of the rider. Meanwhile, Kellam retrieved his javelin.

The remaining Plegian wyvern riders had apparently realized that getting too close to the mages in the Shepherds' back line was a bad idea and had begun keeping their distance. Miriel took the opportunity to use her Elfire tome against an enemy warrior that had been closing in on Kellam while Lon'qu was distracted. Virion fired of a few arrows at a swordsman hiding behind a tree. They didn't hit, but kept the enemy pinned until Donnel could reach and dispatch him.

After a moment of observing, Morgan called out, "Cordelia! Reposition over there!" She pointed to a slightly elevated area the Shepherds had cleared of foes. The area would provide Virion with a good vantage point for sniping while keeping Cordelia's pegasus out of the last enemy archer's effective range.

Despite having never worked with Morgan before, Cordelia was an excellent soldier. She immediately reacted, calling out to Virion and offering him a hand. The dandy archer quickly swung up onto the pegasus behind her and they took off for the spot Morgan had pointed out.

"Maribelle! Go to Vaike and heal him. Then go heal Donnel," The young time-traveling tactician commanded. Ol' Teach had taken an arrow to the shoulder while putting down another foe and the young farm boy had received a few smaller gashes from his last opponent. Maribelle gave an affirmative before galloping her horse after the burly axeman. "Chrom! Cover Maribelle! Virion! Get that enemy archer!"

"Hey, there," Gaius called out. "We've got incoming!" The thief was looking away from the battle and Morgan turned to see three wyvern riders descending from the clouds towards the Shepherds' tome-users.

"Get behind me," Morgan told Miriel, closing her Wind tome and drawing her sword. A little ways off, Gaius had similarly placed himself between the newcomers and Ricken, gripping his wyrmslayer.

Fortunately for the Shepherds, the wyvern riders would have to briefly land to effectively attack them—using the axes the soldiers carried. While a wyvern's legs were certainly powerful, and their claws sharp, getting the creatures to use them properly in a fly-by attack was exceedingly difficult. They were far more effective at attacking airborne enemies with their claws. Not to mention that doing so would expose the wyvern's softer belly to the one they were attacking—leaving them open for a counter attack to the beast's weakest point.

Instead, the wyvern would dive, hitting the ground and landing for just a second, before leaping back into the air. In that brief moment, the rider would attempt to strike with their axe, while the wyvern only exposed its scaled side to the enemy. But that would also be their target's chance to strike back.

Morgan braced for the impact as one of the wyvern riders hit the ground next to her. She brought her sword up and deflected the axe stroke that came with it. She was even able to make a quick counterstrike, cutting a gash into the wyvern's side. Unfortunately, it was hardly a fatal wound, and the creature beat it's wings to help itself leap back into the air. However, just as the wyvern began launching itself skyward, Miriel hit the rider with a Wind spell. Already precariously balanced due to his own attack and his mount launching itself from the ground, the rider fumbled and toppled off the wyvern as it took to the air. Morgan didn't hesitate: she darted forward and stabbed the prone man before he could recover.

Off the the side a ways, Gaius had made good use of his wyrmslayer. He had struck preemptively- slashing the wyvern that came for him before it could actually land. His magic sword easily sliced open the wyvern's scales, dealing it a fatal blow. The beast obviously failed it's landing and crashed. The momentum from it's dive—which was intended to be used on the rebound to help it launch itself back into the air—caused the creature to skid right off the edge of the pass, carrying its rider down into the ravine.

The third wyvern never managed to reach the ground. It had been trailing a bit behind the other two and found itself facing the full might of Ricken's Elwind tome. The beast's wings were shredded by the spell and it's body covered with lacerations. It crashed onto the path well short of the Shepherds.

"Good job!" Morgan called, turning back to the rest of the fight. However, there wasn't much left to it. Virion had taken out the final Plegian archer in what Morgan assumed he would later describe as an "elegant duel of bows." Cordelia had speared the final enemy swordsman when he tried to get a drop on Virion. The remaining Plegian warriors had been mopped up by the Shepherds' infantry.

Supported by Vaike, Chrom had moved to engage the leader of the Plegian forces. The commander was a wyvern rider, so between him and the Falchion, it wasn't hard to predict the out come. The final remaining wyvern rider was trying to support his leader, but was taking constant arrow-fire from Virion.

At Morgan's prompting, the mages advanced to cover the rest of the Shepherds. Once they got in range, Ricken finished of the last wyvern rider with an Elwind spell. At about the same time, Chrom beheaded the commander's wyvern. To his credit, the leader was the only one who managed to safely leap from his fallen mount and continue the fight on the ground. Unfortunately for him, he was outnumbered and facing the prince of Ylisse. The fight was over in a matter of moments.

Morgan scanned the surrounding area to make sure there were no straggler before letting out a sigh of relief. The fight had gone as well as she could have hoped for. No one was seriously injured and things played out much like they had in her time.

The Shepherds began to naturally congregate around Chrom, congratulating each other, and thanking others for support they had received. It would take a little time for the adrenaline and jitters of battle to wear off on the group. Maribelle used a cheap Heal staff to attend to anyone that still had an injury—now that the fight was over there was no need to use a more expensive staff that could heal more quickly.

"Good work," Morgan told Miriel as they joined the others. It was a little awkward for her, as she was used to thinking of the scientific mage as an "adult" while she was a "kid." Though now they were probably only a few years apart in age.

"I only enacted my duties as they were required of me," the scholar responded. Then she added, "You performed your function quite adequately as well."

Morgan wasn't sure if that was Miriel attempting to participate in "fraternization," or a normal response. Either way she had to stifle a chuckle.

After a few minutes, Chrom called the Shepherds back to order. "Well done, everyone," the he said. "You all did a great job here. Those Plegians never knew what hit them!" Several people commented in agreement—Vaike in particular. "I'm going to go back and check with Emm before her party leaves," the prince continued.

"You guys check to see if the Plegians had anything we can use on them. Any weapons that are in good shape or anything valuable. Morgan, you'll be in charge of deciding what to keep."

"Sure thing," The time-displaced tactician replied, giving a thumbs up. "We should probably take an hour or so to rest before we take off as well," she added. The battle had been short, but the rush would take a little time to wear off and recover from.

After a second of thought, Chrom nodded. "Agreed. After that we will head off on our mission—recruiting volunteers from the towns and villages in the area before returning to Ylisstol to hold of Gangrel's siege."

"If I may?" Cordelia spoke up. It took Chrom a moment to realize she was actually going to wait for permission before continuing. After receiving his nod, she said, "If I could, I would like to speak with Captain Phila before they leave as well."

"Sure," the blue-haired prince told her. "You can come along and talk with her while I'm talking to Emm. After that, Morgan and I will explain the current...situation to you. I'll warn you, it's quite a bit to take in." That received a murmur of agreement from the rest of the Shepherds.

Morgan couldn't help but think about how Cordelia meeting Severa would go. That was sure to be quite the show, and she didn't want to miss it. Though maybe she would observe from a good safe distance.

* * *

Before they had left Ylisstol, Lucina and Morgan had discussed in private finding the other children from the future.

"So then, do you know where all my friends are?" the blue-haired princess had asked.

"Well, kind of," her fellow time-traveler replied. "Rather, I know where you guys found them three years from now, during the war with Walhart. Some of them stayed in one location, but others traveled around. And even the ones who stayed, they might or might not have reached that location yet."

"Are there any you can be fairly certain of?"

"Maybe a few," Morgan said. She studied the map for a moment. She muttered to herself for a moment before turning back to Lucina. "I'm just not sure. Kjelle was in a town not far from Regna Prima in Ferox. But we are on such a tight time crunch. I'm not sure if you will be able to check there fast enough. Especially not after a week of riding hard already."

Lucina frowned. "Maybe the Khan would send a messenger for us to find her?" she suggested.

"That might work," Morgan mused. "Or maybe...wait! If you used a pegasus instead of a horse, you could definitely make the trip to the village in time!"

"I don't have a pegasus," Lucina pointed out. Cynthia was the pega-pony princess of the family and Ferox didn't have pegasai.

"Yes, but we were already planning to send your mother with your group," Morgan reminded her. "You can ride with her. With her it should only take a day and a half or so, round-trip. Even if you can't bring Kjelle back with you, you can tell her where to go. Maybe have her join Basillio's force that will be leaving later."

"That...could work," Lucina agreed. She was a little worried. The chance to go on a private mission with her mother was wonderful—but keeping her composure for such an intimate trip would be hard. But the reasoning was sound, so she would have to do it. So then that was settled. "What about the others?"

Morgan thought for a moment. "Well Noire and Nah were both in Ferox as well, but neither of them really settled down, so there's no telling where they might be now. As for the others...Severa and Yarne were both in southwest Plegia. We can try and look for them once we take care of Gangrel. Severa, at least, has a decent chance of being in the same place. Aside from them, Laurent was actually found in eastern Ylisse looking for an ancient relic his mother had mentioned. Though I suspect he won't be there yet. Everyone else wound up on the continent of Valm. Well, Cynthia was actually on an island between here and there."

"Oh?" Lucina looked up, suddenly interested in the mention of her sister.

"I don't think she'll be there yet," Morgan cautioned. "She got tricked by a bandit pretending to be Chrom."

"...of course she did." Lucina gave a sigh. Well, Cynthia _had_ been pretty young when their father had died. Still, that was pretty sad.

"Yeah, but I don't think the whole 'impersonating Chrom' thing started until the war with Walhart. Plus I can't imagine even Cynthia falling for that for too long."

"I would hope not."

"Indeed," Morgan said with a chuckle. "So then, everyone else was on Valm, but I don't think any of them really settled down in one spot long-term. So they could be anywhere now. Well, except Gerome. He's the one person I can say for certain I know where he is."

"Really?" Lucina asked, intrigued. "Why is that."

"He went went straight for Wyvern Valley once he arrived in the past. He settled down and stayed there until you guys happened to find him and convince him to go with you."

"Convince?"

"Yeah. He's kind of...pessimistic about the whole time-travel thing. He decided to just take Minerva to Wyvern Valley so she could have a few years with her own kind before the world ended. Again."

"That is pretty pessimistic," Lucina agreed.

"Yeah," Morgan said. "On top of that, he arrived in the past several years before you did. I think he said he actually ended up being older than you were thanks to the time-traveling. So he should already be there. Probably has been for a couple years already."

"He arrived here _years_ ago?" Lucina asked incredulously.

"Yup," Morgan affirmed. "Actually, you were one of the last time-travelers to arrive. So everyone else is a bit closer in age to you now. Though I think Gerome is the only one to actually end up older. Maybe Laurent too. I'm not sure"

Lucina pondered that for a moment. "Well whatever," she finally said. "So mother and I will go look for Kjelle while we are in Ferox. We'll look for Severa and hopefully Yarne in Plegia after the war."

"And after that, well search for the others."

"We'll have to go to Valm. Probably earlier than later. We don't want to be there when Walhart starts preparing to invade us."

"Yes, that would be wise," Morgan agreed. "At least we know one certain destination there. The others may move around, but we can be sure that Gerome will be at Wyvern Valley."

* * *

Lucina's group was traveling light, so that meant not bringing along a lot of supplies. Instead, every few days, when the group stopped for the evening, they would send a couple people into a nearby town to buy food and such. Of course, they still wanted to avoid being identified, so that "couple of people" quickly became Robin and Lucina, as they were basically unknown in this time.

A little over halfway into their trip, the group was approaching the border with Ferox and they expected to cross the Longfort the following day. They stopped a little early for the night and the two supply runners made the short trip to a nearby town.

It was as they approached the town that the princess and the tactician found something odd. As they got close, they noticed that there was a small grove of tree nearby, and there was a large wyvern standing by the trees. Getting a little closer, they saw that the wyvern was actually tied to one of the trees. It was almost comical, considering how easily the large pseudo-dragon could snap the rope holding it there.

It was only as they got closer that Lucina realized there was something familiar about this wyvern. "Wait here," she told Robin, slipping off her saddle and approaching the wyvern on foot. The silver-haired tactician had cried out in surprise and warning as he caught the reins to Lucina's horse. The beasts had been getting increasingly skittish at the sight of one of the few animals that actually preyed upon horses.

As Lucina had approached the wyvern, it had turned to look at her, but had made no threatening moves. If anything, it seemed almost happy to see her—it's tail wagged a bit like a giant dog.

"Minerva, is that you?" Lucina had asked as she drew close enough to reach out and touch the creature—ignoring Robin's warnings.

The wyvern allowed the princess to stroke it's head and made a soft, almost cooing sound.

"What are you doing out here?" Lucina asked again. The wyvern, most definitely Minerva, motioned with her head to the nearby town. "Is Gerome in that town?" Minerva just nuzzled Lucina's hand in response. "Yes, I'm glad to see you again too," the blue-haired girl assured the wyvern.

"Lucina, what's going on?" Robin called out to her.

"It's okay," she told him. "This here is Minerva. She's a friend."

"One of your friends is a wyvern?"

Lucina scowled at him. "Her master is one of the people who came back in time with me. Well, more like partner than master—Minerva is a particularly smart wyvern." Said wyvern gave a satisfied snort at that comment.

"I see," the tactician replied. "So then one of your friends is in this town? That's...a pretty big coincidence."

"Indeed," the swordswoman replied. It was a very big coincidence indeed. Especially considering that Gerome and Minerva were not even supposed to be on this continent in the first place.

Lucina thought for a moment. "Robin, could I ask you to take care of gathering the supplies? I don't want to risk missing Gerome in passing, so I will stay here with Minerva and wait for him. I doubt he'd leave her out here like this for long."

"Ah, sure. I'll take your horse with me and load them both up."

"Thank you."

It was a little over half an hour after Robin headed into town with the horses that a lone figure left the town, headed towards the copse where Minerva was tied up. He wore dark armor and a mask. A hand axe hung from his belt while he carried a couple of bags of what were likely supplies. He had left his larger poleaxe with Minerva.

It wasn't until he got closer that he realized there was someone already there. "Hey! Get away from there!" he called out, probably thinking some foolish villager had gotten close to his wyvern on a dare.

It was only then that Lucina stepped out from behind Minerva into plain sight. "Hello Gerome," she said.

The young man stopped short. It took him a couple of seconds to recover before he replied, "...Lucina," with a little nod.

There was a moment of silence before Lucina finally spoke up again, "So. What's the deal with tying Minerva up out here?"

"Oh," Gerome grunted. "The townsfolk were spooked at the sight of a wyvern. They wouldn't let me enter the town with her. And then they were upset that I would just let her roam free, so I had to tie her to a tree so they'd stop complaining and I could go buy supplies."

"I see," the princess replied. "Or, rather, why are you here? I thought you were going to take Minerva to Wyvern Valley in Valm."

This brought the you wyvern rider up short again. He tilted his head curiously. "How did you know that?" he asked. "I'm certain I didn't tell anyone that was what I intended to do."

"That's...a long story," Lucina informed him. "So you were still planning to go there?" She was slightly relieved to hear that Morgan's story hadn't been too far off.

"Yes," Gerome finally responded. "We're actually on our way to Port Ferox so we can get a ship to Valm. Even Minerva can't cross the ocean alone."

"Of course," the princess said with a chuckle. "That would be ridiculous. Even for Minerva. But I had heard you arrived in this time several years early."

Gerome was clearly getting annoyed at this point. "Where could you have possibly heard _that_?"

"It's-"

"Don't say 'It's a long story.'"

Lucina gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry. It's just that things have changed a lot. And I'm really surprised to find you here. And you look taller—so I'm guess you _have_ been here for a few years. Why wait till now to go to Valm?"

Gerome folded his arms. With his mask on, it was hard to read his expression, but Lucina could guess he was more than a touch disgruntled. "I...arrived several years ago, yes. However, Minerva and I arrived in Plegia and got caught up in some trouble with a bandit gang. We wasted a couple of years there before we were able to make our escape. Then we went to Ylisse to earn money for passage to Valm. But it took a couple more years to save up enough. Turns out the trouble with Walhart has drastically increased the price of passage."

Lucina nodded and said, "So now you are headed to Port Ferox to book a ship."

"Yes."

"That's a bit of a relief," Lucina said. "I was beginning to worry my information was off."

"And where exactly did you get this information from?" Gerome asked. He was clearly not pleased about being in the dark.

"Well, things have changed since we arrived here in the past," the princess told him. "And I don't just mean the Exalt's assassination. We are not the only ones who traveled back in time." Starting with the attack on Emmeryn, Lucina told him about her finding Morgan and explained about the new future she came from.

"It sounds like it was all pointless," Gerome commented.

"How so?"

"Well, even after we changed the future, Grima returned and destroyed everything anyway," he said. "It seems death will have its due, no matter our actions."

"That's not true," Lucina countered. "In Morgan's time we _were_ able to defeat Grima! It's possible for us to win. Now that we know sealing him is not enough, we can make sure to end it for good. And Morgan says she has a way to get around the sacrifice Father was unwilling to make the first time."

"And just how much do you trust this Morgan girl?"

Lucina stopped short and was silent for a moment. Finally, she replied, "At the very least, I believe she is sincere in her desire to help us. She's keeping some secrets, but I can hardly blame her for that."

"If you say so," the wyvern knight replied. "Either way, I don't intend to get involved." He picked up the bags he had dropped at first seeing Lucina and walked over to Minerva and began to load the supplied he had purchased into her saddlebags. "I wish you luck, but Minerva and I are going to Valm."

"We can save the world this time!" Luncina said, moving up to him. "Please, help us. There is a chance to save everyone—even our parents."

"Our parents are dead," Gerome said, a cold edge creeping into his voice. "Saving this timeline won't change that."

"Actually," Lucina told him, "Morgan came back with more complete knowledge of time travel than we had. Having seen it happen once, Naga was able to tell her more about it than she could us."

"What of it?"

"Once we traveled back in time we changed the timeline. We didn't create a new one—we changed the one we came from. Those of us who crossed into the past are now severed from the flow of time, but those that didn't—our parents and the rest of the people—they are still the same people. They don't have the memories of our time, but they are truly themselves. The Chrom of this time is the same as my father. He may not have his memories, but it is still him."

There was a moment of silence. Lucina knew that what she had just said was hard to accept. She had struggled with it herself when Morgan had explained it to her. On the one hand, she desperately wanted to accept that her parents were still alive, even if they couldn't remember her or their life together. On the other hand, it was painful to be so close to her lost family, yet so far. While her younger father might accept her, he didn't _know_ her. Not like he had in her time. Their relationship would never be the same, and he would never share those experiences with her that her father once had.

"Fate will not be mocked," Gerome finally said.

"I don't intend to mock Fate," the princess replied. "I intend to change it. It _can_ be changed!"

The two time-travelers stared at each other for another moment. Gerome turned to look at his wyvern partner. "Only a fool would break themselves against the inevitable. What do you think, Minerva? Do you want to fight a fool's war?"

Lucina could never be sure just how much Minerva understood when people were talking around her. But the wyvern was certainly good at reading the mood of her master and those around him. Without warning, she raised her head and let out a threatening roar that likely scared the people of the nearby village.

"Heh," Gerome gave a sour chuckle, patting the wyvern. "I suppose I'm just a fool too," he muttered. Finally, he turned to face Lucina again. "Very well," he announced. "We will fight with you again."

Lucina gave a relieved sigh and smiled. "Thank you, Gerome," she said. "And you too, Minerva."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

That...took a really long time to get out. Sorry about that. Real-life slapped me upside the head there and then I had trouble getting back into writing for a while. But I have not abandoned this story, and I hope I can at least follow a more reasonable release schedule. I'm sure I will never be fast, but I don't want to leave the story hanging either.

Anyways, thanks for reading

As a note, many people have commented how they loved the Omakes in chapter 3. Just a reminder, those were written by sasahara17. If anyone wants to write an Omake for this story, send it to me and I will include it at the end of a chapter. Sadly, I don't have any for this chapter.


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